jnitschke

Thanks Nikki, this is really very helpful!

OH MY GOD JILL!!! That's horrible, and good that it's working out... but still ... wow... you're right about it putting things in perspective though... I suddenly feel like none of my issues have any merit what-so-ever.... good luck with your recovery.

Hey Sansan! I'm the weekend after you!!!

Nikki, I love your set up. So simple and elegant. Couple questions. Did you bring your vases with you? Did they charge you extra for the color water goblets? .. How about those chair covers and the satin table cloths, were they an extra charge? I've been wondering how much I could save by bringing most things down and just handing them the whole set up to do.

I am a question for Nikki and Mrendic. How did you get your chair hangers with the star fish down, without putting wrinkles in your ribbon? As I'm starting to get stockpiles of things I'm starting to notice how cumbersome traveling with different things might just be. Also, did anyone bring they're votive holders with them in their luggage. Debating on whether or not to A. bring them down in a bag, B. ship them in a box, or C. pre-order them with Walmart and just pick them up at the store in Playa Car. I think a lot will depend on what I end up like for center pieces to begin with. Later today I'm going to try making my own Mercury glass. I found a DIY for it, super simple- You buy this Krylon spray paint called Looking Glass and spray the inside. Then to get that moddled old look, you just spray the bottle with diluted vinegar and pop the bubbles that form on the inside, thus removing just a bit of the finish. Seems easy enough, and I love the way Mercury glass looks. Here's the pin that I saw it on. http://pinterest.com/pin/217509856973967567/

Ok, so here was my first test of the chair hangers. The color is actually a lot more vibrant, more rich blue-green teal, than I could get the picture to look. I think it was my lighting coupled with the fact I took these with my phone. Then here's the first mock up I made of the ribbon stakes for the aisle. I'm going to make 14 of these... slowly. ... as a touch the beads wrapped around the feather are the same beads used to mend the beading on my dress, and there are 5 of them-one for each year we have dated up until our marriage. Pair with the "eternal love and faithfulness" that peacocks mean, I think it's a rather sweet idea- our five years together leading us to an eternity of love.

I have a question about your lanterns at Tuscannes, I've been bouncing around the idea of doing lanterns there as well. Are they lit? What kind of lanterns did you buy? and what did they charge you to hang them? I know Nikki had lanterns too, but I was just curious if there was much of a difference. Do you have any other close up pictures from the area around Tuscannes? Things like how your tables were set up under the palapa and where the dance floor was... that kind of thing. Just so that I can get an idea of a layout for the place. You're making me rethink all my DIY projects. I just finished ribbon chair hangers, inspired by Nikki's and also very similar to your own, but with peacock feathers and a larger white ribbon backing the small ones. I'm about half way done with making my ribbon streamers for the aisle decor too. I'll try and see if I can get a couple of good trial pics to show you guys what I've got so far. My biggest hurdle right now is figuring out the layout for center pieces. Balancing what looks nice, with price, how much DIY, and how hard it will be to ship it all down... For some reason this is proving to be incredibly hard. I have test vases and candle holders in our living room with different colors of glitter and paint... Todd walked in today and said "It looks like a princess exploded in here" and then walked out... heh..my next trial will be to make my own mercury glass pieces. I figure some configuration of all of this is bound to call out to me. I think my problem is that I might actually have too much inspiration... I love it all.

I know what you're saying. I read every post too. It took me months, but I have an entire notebook of advice and tips that I've gotten from here... the saddest part of reading it is seeing how the price of everything keeps slowly going up. But still, this site is the most useful thing I've had for wedding planning... not to mention how awesome all of you ladies are, very supportive.

I have to say I agree with Nikki. Most people don't remember the details of other people's clothing. One of my best friends was married in April and all I remember about her dress was that it was a fit and flare with a lot of beading... and that was my memory as someone who at the time was looking at wedding dresses non-stop. For how much we spend on the dress and alterations, you shouldn't have to settle, just go with what you want. It's not about what others think, but you're the bride...it's about what you think. That's all that matters. Plus to me, it looks like there is a greater difference between the Adore and your friend's dress, than your new dress and the Adore. If you can't list things you love about this new one over the Adore, then I it's not your dress... just a look a like. Also, a lot of your look will have to do with hair, makeup and accessories. Not just your dress. If you style your hair differently I doubt anyone will notice. Mostly, your goal should be, to be so stunning that people won't be able to think of anyone else. But, if keeping the Adore would make you feel self-conscious the whole time, then just go with what makes you feel confident. Likewise, if the entire time you would think "I love it, but.... " then don't bother switching. And, while the new dress is cheaper, the cost of the additions and alterations would have to drive that up a considerable amount.... making it negligible.

Oh, we're not getting married until Memorial Day... of course somehow I missed that 2 different cousins are graduating from college on Memorial Day next year. So that means both of them, their siblings, and parents won't be able to attend. All told it's about 8 people I had been counting on, and I'm actually kind of sad that my one aunt and uncle won't be able to attend since I was always closest to them. Plus, when my parents split in high school my aunt really stepped up to make sure that I wasn't being forgotten in the mix. But, it's a bit too late to change things now, and I don't really know when else I would want to do it. Since I teach an AP class I don't really want to do it before the first week of May, last thing I need while teaching two AP classes is to be in crunch time while doing final wedding prep, talk about stress. I picked Memorial Day weekend since most people would have the Monday off and would need one less day of leave (something in short commodity for some people), not to mention that Todd and I would need one less day also. Plus, when I picked it I was sure that college graduations were always done by Memorial Day, what are the chances that their schools would both have the same graduation date? Especially since they're the only two family members even in college right now.... sigh... oh well... I suppose this is just part of a destination wedding, some people you really want there just won't be able to go.. Todd's sister won't even be able to come, since her husband just told us that his doctor put the kabash on going to Mexico. He has some kidney problems that he's been dealing with for most of his life, and Mexico is on a list of countries he's not allowed to travel to...news to us...would have been nice to know this before we put down a deposit and sent out save the dates.. but whatever... I just need to come to terms with some people not attending... especially since I currently have 3 friends who all just got pregnant and our county doesn't give maternity leave, meaning none of them will be able to take the time off to attend-even if they could some how scrounge up the cash. But your group of 48 sounds ideal to me... 3 months to go is pretty awesome. I'm still trying to figure out what all I need to DIY before summer is over... must mean I need to get moving since there's only 2 weeks til school starts back up.

I thought every room had a jacuzzi tub with a view of the ocean or the gardens... is that not true?

Does anybody know if there is bubble bath in the rooms? I was just thinking about how every room has a jacuzzi tub, and though bubble bath, bath fizzers, body wash, etc... might make for a good addition to the OOT bags.

I'm a moron... here's the link... http://www.since1910.com/DIY-wedding-booth.aspx

Here's the website that I saw that gave me the idea of using an IPAD... I've got my FIL on making the backdrop scaffold that collapses and my dad on making the IPAD stand and working the logistics of connecting the IPAD to a printer. The app they mention is $10, but I don't think that is really all that unreasonable-although there are other photobooth apps out there that are considerably cheaper too.