ashk

La Vie en Rose Aqua has cute wet swimsuit bags for $1.95 each. All female guests are getting one in their beach OOT bag Now to figure out what to get for the guys! Finally got all the stuff I've ordered so far from Oriental Trading today (shipped via favour from a friend of a friend who crosses the border frequently) I am pleased with the quality for the price. So now it's time to order the balance of goodies from there before I'm out of time!

Ladies, I need your wisdom. My mother and 'maids threw me a surprise wedding shower last weekend, and it was lovely! The only input I had was handing over my wedding address book. Upon reflection, I noticed that of course, not everyone could attend. But a few surprised me, so I asked my mom - her response,"Who are they??" So, my fiance's business partner/friend's wife and daughter, with whom we are socially close and who are attending our DW, did not get invited to my shower. HOW DO I HANDLE THIS!!!? Your advice is appreciated. Ashley

Our budget is $15000. For our trip, wedding package, photographer, flowers, my dress and his outfit, plus all the other little stuff, we're coming in pretty close to that.

OOT Bags Finally, each person will be given a drawstring mesh beach tote containing: -travel mug with insert personalized with their name and our wedding "monogram" -travel size aloe gel -clothespegs -flip flop playing cards -inflatable beach ball (I got both traditional beach balls and sport balls from Oriental Trading) -keycard holder with wrist coil Total: about $5.50 per person, unless I can think of other fun things to put in there!!

Room Bags - "just in case" items, 1 per room -ziplock bag -dishcloth -dish soap -roll of Tums -dental floss -box of bandaids -Tide sink detergent 3pk -Tylenol extra strength travel pouches (1 per person) Also plan to add: -Immodium or Pepto bismol blisterpack sheet -Benadryl Most items from Dollarama, also Costco, cheaptravelsizes.com, Walmart, Rexall Total: about $7 per room

OOT Bags I have to give thanks to BDW for these. 10 months ago, I hadn't ever even heard the term! After blessedly stumbling onto BDW, followed by hours of research, I knew we absolutely had to do them We are giving: Airplane Survival Bags -ziplock bag -kleenex -pen -hand sanitizer (all above from Dollarama) -2 sets of foam earplugs (a pair for each way) (free! love samples) -gum (Costco) -Welch's fruit gummies, snack size (Costco) -granola bar (Walmart on sale) Total: $3 per person Our mothers and my bridesmaids are also getting eyemasks in their bags

Hello fellow Ashley Your monogram is so cute, why wouldn't you use it everywhere I'm working on ours right now. I absolutely LOVE your idea of photo scavenger hunt! Would you be willing to share details about that? and I completely understand the OOT bag obsession - I'm glad your guests enjoyed them so much.

Who else put off serious thoughts of engagement & wedding until you were finished school and/or had steady jobs?

Officially dating for 5 yrs, 1 month (we got engaged on our delayed 5th anniversary). We knew each other for about 4 years before we started dating - our first official date was actually my grandparents' 50th anniversary party We'll have been together for almost 6 1/2 years when we're married!

Oilersbride, that sounds very interesting - where did you see that?

Finally scheduled my bustle fitting with the bridal salon - I love my train, but there's no way I'm dancing like that LOL! Aww - my mom and bridesmaids threw me the most wonderful "surprise" shower yesterday I'm still in shock that we were able to fit that many ladies into my parent's living room!

I also made the Engagement Party invites, with assembly help from my mother and 2 bridesmaids. Including postage, they cost $1.21 each. I found the base cards at Dollarama, the coloured cardstock from Michaels (on sale) and my mom bought the sand dollar stamp and coral ink (also from Michaels) . The insides were made using MS Word and lots of trial and error to get the right font ink colour! And I used roll-on adhesive (similar to roll-on whiteout) to glue everything together, also Dollarama. The base card - it had nice colours, but this icky brown ribbon had to go! Added coral ribbon and a double square of cardstock stamped with coral ink. Drew the map by hand and then photocopied a bunch of times - it's held in place by the ribbon, which feeds through the spine of the card (rotary cutter yay) and glued under the stamped card on the front. Then glued the green and blue corners and info insert. Taa-daa!

Here's what the Save the Dates ended up looking like: The information insert (front and back) All the inserts (booking form, information insert, and fridge magnet) The message and all inserts: The finished product!

Thanks to all of you for this thread - it is immensely helpful! (Hindsight being 20/20 and all that) I know I can get carried away with things that, in the end, should not have been such a big deal!

OMG I never thought of this - thank you for the idea, can't wait to see how yours turn out

Love it! I was thinking of getting the pre-fab iron-ons for myself and the girls, but maybe I'll try this instead!

This is absolutely amazing!!! What a great job - thank you so much for sharing!!