Katie McLean

AJM, There are certainly ways around the rule...what they don't want happening is you inviting someone from the area to the resort for the day to do pictures. I am having our family photographer come on the trip as a guest and he will be taking all of our photos. I have spoken with the coordinator and this is okay to do. If the photographer is paying to stay on the resort as a guest, there isn't anything they can do about the person taking photos. Does this make sense? I hope it helps!

We recently worked with Perrywinkle's in Burlington, VT to make my custom wedding bands, and I couldn't be more excited about them. We decided to get our wedding bands in VT because it's where we were both born and raised even though we now live in Colorado. Here are pictures of the bands in the process of being made. We just got the real thing and they look amazing, we just don't have great photos of them so I thought i'd share these. My goal was to keep the unique shape of the engagement ring and to have a band I could wear if I didn't want to wear my engagement ring. Here is a poor quality photo of both of our rings,

This dress is a Ella Bridal--5530. It is so lightweight, which is a huge plus in my mind Ella Bridal has a lot of lightweight dresses, hope this helps you

This is my dress!!! I ordered it in May and it just came in I'll be doing my fitting in December....I'm so excited!!! After trying on tons of hot and heavy dresses I fell in love with this dress because it has shape but is still lightweight and comfortable!

I just had my call with Deadra the "wedding coordinator" more of a sales person, but that's okay. I forgot to ask her if there is a place we can have an indoor reception for 60 people. If anyone knows the answer let me know, i'd really appreciate it!!

1. Budget. We are trying to keep things under $2,000.00 we are lucky to have my parents forking this bill for us, but we'd still like to keep costs to a minimum. 2. Type. What kind of AHR are you planning? Is it formal or informal? How long will it last? Will you also have a dance after the reception? We are planning on having a semi-formal AHR, with mostly a large spread of appetizers and a small BBQ style buffet. Luckily my mom used to own a restaurant that does receptions so we are getting the space for free and a good deal on the food. We are having it from 1:00-4:00 and any stragglers will come celebrate more at my parents house. 3. When. How long after your DW are you planning the AHR? We are getting married on April 12, 2013 and are having the reception July 20th. In Vermont you can't count on the weather being remotely good until August. 4. Food. Are you having a buffet or a formal sit down dinner? We are doing a BBQ style buffet. 5. Clothes. What are you wearing to your AHR? Your wedding day attire or something else entirely? We are going to wear our DW attire so that people like my grandparents, FI parents etc can see us in our wedding day attire. 6. Invitations. Formal or informal invitations? Something relatively inexpensive with a RSVP for food purposes. 7. Photographer. Are you hiring a professional photographer for the day? We are having a family friend (who is a photographer) go to Jamaica with us and in the deal he agreed to do the AHR for a couple of hours as well. 8. Cake. Are you having a traditional wedding cake for the AHR? We are doing a chocolate fountain instead 9. Decorations. What kinds of decorations are you having for your AHR? Probably a mock Jamaica theme....star fish, shells etc 10. DW Photos. Are you going to have these on display and if so, how? We are! We are going to print a bunch, and clothes pin them to a "clothes line" which will really just be twine.

1. Budget. We are trying to keep things under $2,000.00 we are lucky to have my parents forking this bill for us, but we'd still like to keep costs to a minimum. 2. Type. What kind of AHR are you planning? Is it formal or informal? How long will it last? Will you also have a dance after the reception? We are planning on having a semi-formal AHR, with mostly a large spread of appetizers and a small BBQ style buffet. Luckily my mom used to own a restaurant that does receptions so we are getting the space for free and a good deal on the food. We are having it from 1:00-4:00 and any stragglers will come celebrate more at my parents house. 3. When. How long after your DW are you planning the AHR? We are getting married on April 12, 2013 and are having the reception July 20th. In Vermont you can't count on the weather being remotely good until August. 4. Food. Are you having a buffet or a formal sit down dinner? We are doing a BBQ style buffet. 5. Clothes. What are you wearing to your AHR? Your wedding day attire or something else entirely? We are going to wear our DW attire so that people like my grandparents, FI parents etc can see us in our wedding day attire. 6. Invitations. Formal or informal invitations? Something relatively inexpensive with a RSVP for food purposes. 7. Photographer. Are you hiring a professional photographer for the day? We are having a family friend (who is a photographer) go to Jamaica with us and in the deal he agreed to do the AHR for a couple of hours as well. 8. Cake. Are you having a traditional wedding cake for the AHR? We are doing a chocolate fountain instead 9. Decorations. What kinds of decorations are you having for your AHR? Probably a mock Jamaica theme....star fish, shells etc 10. DW Photos. Are you going to have these on display and if so, how? We are! We are going to print a bunch, and clothes pin them to a "clothes line" which will really just be twine.

Thank you!!!

CONGRATS CMS531!!!! It's such a fun/easy process! My FI leave on the 19th, you'll have a beautiful wedding i'm sure! If you find out any useful information and are inclined to share, i'd appreciate it! I have my first phone call in June I bought my dress this last weekend, couldn't be more excited!

I guess my thought is that all of our guests just paid $1,000-$4,000 to go to Jamaica for our wedding, so I kinda feel the least we can do is dinner with everyone together. Unfortunately they won't accommodate all of us at any one or probably two restaurants. I have my call with the Coordinator this week so we'll see. I guess I just feel we should do more than happy hour for our guests, but that is totally my opinion. I'm not sure if any of the bars on the resort can accommodate 60+ people either....hmmm. I hate making decisions, I really do.

I think the twilight ceremony would be nice...I decided against it and went with the 3:00 ceremony because it would give us more time prior to dark for photos, I wanted a little more daylight after the ceremony for pictures. Speaking of pictures, have you decided what you are going to do for a photographer? I'm considering bringing a photographer as a guest and getting the whole trip on camera! Anything you find out is greatly appreciated to hear about, it's tough because it seems so much is done when you get there! How many people do you think will be joining you?

And you're getting married at Sandals Grande Riviera? How exciting! My FI and I arrive on the 9th and leave the 19th We already have nearly 60 people who have booked their rooms! I NEVER expected so many people to go! I'm wondering if we'll be eligible for any kind of discount for that many people! Any information you find out would be great to know!

Could you link to the seller of your cake topper? I absolutely ADORE it, but can't seem to find the exact seller that makes them.....Thank you!

Monday was our "pretend" deadline and we officially have 27 rooms book meaning 54 people are joining us in Jamaica, my FI and are absolutely flabbergasted with the outcome! We are so excited that so many people are joining us for our day! Couldn't be happier! We were originally thinking no more than 30 people would come! I guess we were very wrong! Now to start thinking about planning! Sandals recently updated their wedding website, which i'm LOVING that I can now see all the options! Happy planning to everyone

My favorite e-mail of the day is always the one from our TA with our updated guest list! She generally sends it at the end of my day, so i'm always looking for it! I hope you both can get guests booking soon, it's a very fun process!