cinnagirl

We're going to look at bridesmaid dresses in two weeks when I finally have all of my girls together (they're scattered across the country). But we're just going to check out what styles they like. I will most likely have to just give them a colour swatch and tell them to find a dress in that colour, since they'll be going back to their cities after that.

We're going to be spending the night before together. I'm so used to sleeping with him that I think sleeping with anyone else will just make me nervous. Our ceremony isn't until 5 pm, so we'll probably spend the morning together with the group as well. We were actually just discussing this last night, and he said he was good either way. He just made me promise not to want to go celibate for three months prior to the wedding like his best friend's wife did, lol.

We're going to do the legal paperwork beforehand and bring the certificate with us so we can get the "honeymoon" extras. We're just having a friend marry us.

I like the idea of speeches in bits and pieces between the dinner courses. Is anyone's parents making speeches? This is a common thing at the local weddings I've been to, but I don't seem to see any parent speeches on these timelines (unless I totally missed it). Is this different with DWs?

My fiance and I had a lot of going back and forth with this. At first he was determined for no one to give us any gifts, which I said wouldn't work because there will be someone that wants to give us a gift. It's a wedding, it's a happy time and some people like to give gifts at happy times (I'm one of them). Then he said he only wanted cash, but I thought it was rude to just ask for cash. So we're going to register at honeyfund for a honeymoon we'll take later in the year, and then at Home Outfitters for some small cheapy things that we could use an upgrade on. That way if anyone wants to give, there are enough options.

I'm not having a stag and doe, mainly because I'd feel weird asking people to come out and support us with money when half of them can't even afford to go. Actually, I feel weird in general asking people to give us money for our wedding as I feel like that's our responsibility. But everyone's situation is different and you need to do what's best for you as a couple, as well as for your guests/families.

The Riu is Aruba is really great! I would definitely go back to that resort again. It had the most amazing food, never seemed like "bulk produced" and all of the staff were super friendly all the time.

That's so exciting! Congrats! Our price is $1530 per person for a double room for a week's stay. Apparently we need 30 people to get an additional discount on our flights, and I'm a bit worried about that. But we'll be putting our deposits down in a couple weeks to get the process started!

We are not inviting one of fiance's brothers because he is an addict and alcoholic. An all-inclusive resort if probably not the best place for him to be. Not to mention how his habits have completely destroyed the relationships between him and all the family members because of his lies and manipulation and we don't want that awkwardness the whole week. Oh, and his episodes that land him in the hospital tend to happen around major events (birthdays, funerals, weddings, etc) so we know he'll try and ruin our wedding in some way, just like he did for fiance's other brother's DW. We are making an effort to NOT tell the addict brother anything about the wedding, date, etc.

Hahaha, yeah, and it wasn't like I was asking for their opinions on the resorts. All I said was we're still deciding between this one and that one. Well that's an open enough opportunity for my aunt apparently. I couldn't believe it when I got the emails. My response was, "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." lol

Exactly! I think people see all the groupon deals for $500 for a resort stay or all the last minute deal and are coming to expect it as the regular price. My one cousin (the one complaining about the price) was saying that she's stayed at resorts with her husband for $1500 total the two of them. I just wanted to say, "what kind of resort are you staying at that's THAT cheap, and do you really think that's where I want to spend my wedding week?!"

Can I add mine to the list? After booking our venue (which is off-resort in Punta Cana) I was telling my aunt and cousin about our plans so far and the resorts we were deciding between. They were not too happy with the price ranges we told them we were expecting. The next day my aunt sends me an email with a link to a groupon for a resort in the Dominican. Um, thank you, even though that resort is not even in the same city as my venue. She also sent me a link to a "love boat" cruise line where you can get married by the ship's captain. Thank for trying to plan my wedding for me...? Same cousin freaked out when I told her we were expecting the resort prices to be $1500 per person. She said the price was too high and that she would book on her own, because she was assuming that our wedding costs were included in the prices and that's why they were so high for guests. Yes, you're right, I'm trying to get my guests to pay for my wedding... *eye roll* Another cousin said to my mom, "I hope your meal at the wedding is included so you don't have to pay for it." What?! I don't even know what to think of that question. It's true though, a lot of people's rudeness has to do with money.

I am SO GLAD that I found this post as I have been struggling with this so much. I have family members who completely avoid even just talking to me at family functions, as they are afraid I'll bring up the wedding. My fiance and I went to a barbeque tonight and my fiance said to our group of friends, "are you guys getting excited for the wedding? It's going to be a week long party!" and everyone there was dead silent. And these people are supposed to be our friends. Another problem for us is that now that we got our quotes everyone is saying it's too much money. We decided on a DW back in January and we've been telling people ever since then that we were aiming for it to be $1500 per person. Everyone said that was fine, sounded like a good price. My fiance and I triple checked with all of our bridal party members to make sure they were okay with the price and everyone said it sounded great. We got our quotes back on Thursday and it's $1530 per person, so pretty much spot on. Suddenly one of my bridesmaids thinks it's a lot of money and is "going to try her best to be there." Excuse me? You were fine with this up until last week! She told me how she and her husband were having a rough time financially but they were putting every penny towards our wedding. I went to the beach with her today and she gave me a sob story about how her visa was declined at a lunch with her co-workers and her boss had to pay for her lunch, and how her phone bill was $600 for last month because she didn't have unlimited everything like she thought. So I see that money's tight. But then she buys a bunch of stuff from the vendors at the beach and talking about how she needs to get her nails done again. It hurts, but you really see where people's priorities lie. My fiance said to me today when I was upset about it that, "We've been upfront about the price and given them plenty of time to save. People will find a way to be at our wedding if we are important to them, and our celebration is important to them." I have to try and keep this in mind. It just hurts to find out who your friends really are. (end vent, thanks ladies)

What programs are you ladies using to make your logos?

Ours quotes were around $2000 pp when we starting getting quotes in March. So ridiculous! Ours are $1530 pp for the basic room, and we told people to expect it to be around $1500 so this works for us. You guys have a good price!

How much was your quote if you don't mind me asking? We got ours back two days ago but we'll be staying at Dreams Palm Beach. Who is your quote through? Ours is through Sunwing so once we put down our deposit our guests have 90 days to put down theirs.

Exactly! I've never kept any of the invitations I've received for weddings. I do keep the nice thank you cards I get from couples, so we'll be doing paper thank you cards. Plus, if any one ever wants a paper invite from us or if we want to keep one for a scrapbook, I can just print it out. Easy peasy.

Is anyone else doing digital invites? I feel like I'm the only one here! We've been using Glo for our invites and website, and I cannot express enough how amazing the experience has been so far. There is a fee (monthly or annually) but you get a website, invitations, as well as RSVP tracking. They have designs available for free, or you can upload your own which is what we decided to do. We had a friend design our stuff. We're on a tight budget and I just couldn't justify spending so much money on invites. Paying for someone else to make them was too expensive, and I am creative but not crafty so making them myself was out of the question. Plus the cost of postage... ouch! I'll be honest, I was really nervous about going ahead with the digital invites. I asked one of my girl's what she thought of them, and her response was "TACKY!" Yikes. But then I came to realize that regardless of what you do with your wedding, at least one person will think something is tacky just because they don't like it. So we went ahead. We had an amazing response! Everyone loved our save-the-dates. Even my fiance's grandmother commented through our website that she thought they were so unique. Not one person has said to us that they thought they were tacky (at least if they're thinking it, we don't know it, lol). I like that they are eco-friendly, that they were totally within our budget, and that we can get in contact with our guests at any time through our website. We're even able to see who's opened their save the dates and when they last visited the website. Anyways, after all that lead up, here's our save the date!! I wanted to share since everyone else is sharing their own save the dates and invites. So if anyone is contemplating digital invites, I say go for it! If anyone wants to see what the save the dates look like to guests (it's an animated envelope), I can screen shot it and share it too.

Those dresses are all so cute! I can't decide on just one.

Gorgeous!! I love your ceremony shoe. Where did you get them?

Does anyone have any prices yet for 2013? My TA has come back with $1530 for May 25-June 1, 2013, and that's for the deluxe tropical view room flying out of Toronto. Just wondering if this is a good price or not. I think it's a reasonable price for a vacation, as that's generally what my fiance and I pay per person for any trip we've been on. Did anyone get anything lower?

I'm wondering about clip in extensions too. My friend had extensions put in for her wedding day and they gave her massive volume. She actually still has them! My concern would be having someone that is not my hair dresser know how to put them in properly to give the effect I want.

Hey MissBubbles, are you using a videographer for your wedding day?

I'm not sure if it's rainy or not...I've heard the same thing about May. But then I've also heard that rain in DR doesn't tend to last that long. Any weather reports I've seen for the month or April and May so far have shown a chance of rain usually everyday. However, I've seen pictures from weddings during these months and it's been sunny skies. For what it's worth, even if it's considered part of the rainy season, May is still very popular for weddings. My venue has over 25 weddings in the month of May and they only do one wedding a day.

MsBlissMpls, that dress is amazing on you!!