uhura526

Also wanted to post some Cayman humor. Anyone see this photo going viral?! Here's the story behind it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/stingray-photobomb-the-st_n_1928570.html?utm_hp_ref=travel&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

this is a great thread! Thanks for the links to things and also check out asianideas.com for some Asian-inspired things like lanterns, fans and bamboo items.

We did not use a TA for our wedding however we did reserve a block of rooms at our host hotel for wedding guests at a special group rate. We haven't even booked our flights yet, but we are directing people to go to kayak and also sign up for fare alerts via tripadvisor. I think it's really going to come down to when people actually get their invitations and a specific deadline (RSVP by date) then they will act. We've got 4 rooms booked under our block right now (including ours).

What a lovely shot! Great photo! Quote: Originally Posted by bride81 I plan on sending invites late October/November. before the holidays for sure. AND.... I BOUGHT MY DRESS!!!! Finally, I did it. I never thought it would happen, but it was my first dress I tried on! I am glad I caught up, because I do have some grandparents we thought were good. My grandmother, who is a second mother to me will not be able to make it. It is breaking my heart. We also found out my FI grandpa has to start chemo immediately. My step sister just got knocked up so she will not be there. All these things understandable, but doesn't make it easy. Its been a stressful week, but came with my wedding dress at the end! 230 days til may 18th! Congrats on getting your dress! I'm sorry about your family though, but I know you must excited about your dress. It's very pretty! I am sending out my invites in November.

It's really going to depend on how many people actually show up because the big money all lies in our catering and beverage numbers. Anyway at most our wedding will not go over $10,000 either way.

so have most of the May 2013 brides on this thread sent out their invitations already?

Looks like we're doing our father/daughter dance to "My Girl" by The Temptations. Dad's special request since he also happens to be a big fan of theirs and even got pulled up on stage to dance with them at a concert a few years ago.

Yes the skirt is lopsided on the right side. It is higher. I think they are really swamped over there due to the departure of their third consultant. Also, I think it will take longer due to the amount of corrections/changes that the dress needs. The Chinese Full Moon Festival starts tomorrow so I probably wouldn't expect to hear from anyone over there for the next several days.

I second Sunshine Suites! We got a block of rooms for our guests and Keira is wonderful to work with. Cute property and free brekkie and wifi! Can't beat that and you will love their pricing. It's more than 50% cheaper than the cost of one-night stay at Grand Cayman Beach Suites where our actual wedding and reception will be. We are shuttling our guests over using Tropicana Tours.

a lot of the venues actually come with a planner in their packages. Mine does. You don't have to necessarily do everything a la carte in that situation. I believe Grand Old House has a resident planner. I don't know how you would even do a destination wedding without one. They are local and would be able to get your vendors streamline and organize you for your special day. I am not doing photographer for a full day but rather 3 hours. I do not see the need nor do I want 600 pictures of the wedding. I am putting together one album and that's it lol I'm using Janet at Better Angle. Aaron was already booked! So if you are going to get him, you might want to book him ASAP. There's a lot of recommendations on this very thread for places to hold your rehearsal dinner also that's where your planner would come in as they can advise you on places to do that as well.

from where? BHM? that's possible if they didn't use a search site like Kayak and went straight to an airline site that doesn't normally fly to your DW area. That's very possible actually. I always say, if you think you got a good deal then you got a good deal. Don't worry yourself over that now. $400 is a VERY good price round trip to anywhere! As of now, my family coming from California, the flights are around $650 to Grand Cayman. I think they will drop a bit. For most of us on the East Coast, prices are anywhere from $400-$450 to Grand Cayman. Pretty decent, but I am just hoping to find a non-stop flight. If not, we'll just book but we're waiting until November. I do things the other way around! For domestic flights we book earlier like 5-7 months out and for international flights we book usually no sooner than 3 MAYBE even 4 months out. We went to Kenya in June, booked our tickets in April. Didn't even settle on going until March. We got an excellent price on tickets because of the off peak season for visiting that area. I think you will see the same in the prices reflected for May destination weddings in the Caribbean (I don't know about Mexico). That's off-peak time so flights/hotels and stuff will be cheaper in general.

Thanks for the welcome ladies. I do have another perspective with regard to guests booking early. I think one thing is that people tend to want to book both hotel and flights at the same time and right now, this far out, flights are expensive or you actually might get a better deal later. In fact, optimally, it's good to get flights 3 to 4 months out. I haven't even booked our flights yet. When we travel internationally, we almost never book more than 3 months out. I do think people should be able to just go ahead and book their accommodations though if they know they are going. In my case, the deposit is refundable! So they have nothing to lose by committing early but again, they may be scared of the flight prices right now (they will drop!) and are not willing to commit this far out or at least separate the two and wait to book flights. Also in my case, they have not received invitations yet. I have been back and forth about when to send them but decided that mid-November will work with a deadline of mid-January. My headcount isn't due to my venue until mid-February. Ladies, don't sweat it with the flaky folks in your lives. I look at this as a good opportunity to weed out those folks moving forward into your new lives as married women. In life, people will come and go and that's just the way it is. Even family can't always be counted on and may need to be removed from your lives. So be it. Just focus on those folks who are supportive and will be there for you and your FI and everything will fall into place. (okay that's what I keep telling myself lol) But really, that thought is keeping me in line at the moment. Get back to me when RSVP's are due

@Kittyinheels I received a response from Lisa this morning and she has notified the seamstress of the changes I requested. They are charging me $15 extra to take in the waist a few inches or as you would say, take in a few centimeters I've lost about 3 inches around my waist since I was measured so I just am going to have them do it. That $15 is cheaper than it would ever cost me here in D.C.! Otherwise, I think the dress is well-made and I'm confident it will turn out the way I envisioned. BTW I absolutely love Australia! My FI and I went there for a month in 2010 and spent quite a bit of time in Surfer's Paradise! I would love to go back there some day! The people of Oz are such kind folks!

@KittyInHeels It's on page 488 a few times. I had some issues with it so I sent them some marked up photos to see if they could do the changes I requested. I am still waiting to hear back from Lisa.

we are having lots of coral in our wedding! The men will be wearing coral linen shirts with ivory linen pants (FI will be wearing the entire suit) from Island Importer. The family in this picture are wearing the white linen pants and suit, we are doing ivory. The bridal bouquet I chose is below.

I too am jealous of all those who have several guests booked already. I know this is the May 2013 bridal thread and I am getting married in April BUT there isn't really a thread like this on here for people getting married in Apirl and we've got similar deadlines and such and I want to bond with other destination wedding brides. I also wanted to throw my hat in to those who are experiencing anxiety about bookings for the wedding. The time will come when RSVP's are due and we'll all want to punch some people in the throat. I have not sent out invites yet but I have sent out STDs and so far I've got 4 rooms booked and one of those is ours lol We've got my mom and dad, my matron of honor and best man (they are married to each other) and my FI's stepmom and her boyfriend..(yes it's a long story). Anyway, I am in the same boat as you Courtney (we also both live in DC!) and my family travels a lot (his does not ..in fact we have ongoing drama with his mom about getting her passport taken care of) but not one of them has booked yet with the exception of my parents. I should be just happy with the group we have as they are the closest people to us, but still, I wish people were more on top of this and just at least book their rooms at the extremely discounted rates we blocked off for the guests.

Your dress is really coming along nicely! It does look just like the original. It will look fabulous once the beading is applied! Congrats. Now just hope my luck is as good as yours lol

Yes, they do put cups in the dress but make sure you email them and tell them! It doesn't cost extra. I was concerned about the same issue because I am also large chested. When I tried on the original dress, they all come with cups in them so I made sure to ask Lisa if they do the same with their dresses at Jasmine's and she said they do.

I will most likely do a lace front wig and have my hair corn rowed or get tree braids underneath so I can whip that bad boy off and go scuba diving after my wedding and on our mini moon!

Thank you for your observations. I have been in contact with Lisa and she told me that the bodice in the original does go across horizontally. I do however see that it definitely has that triangular shape where the bodice meets the lace trim/ruffle skirt area. She said they would talk to the seamstress about that. We'll see what they do with the changes I asked for. As for the shape, I am confused with this because I am not plus sized and I actually do have a curvy figure. I am a size 6/8 in regular dresses and clothes. My measurements correspond with this wedding gown to a 10/12. Mostly because I am top heavy but have small hips and we're talking wedding gowns here. I already planned on having alterations once I get the dress and I'd rather it be on the larger side than the smaller side. Maybe the mannequin they used wasn't the right one? I don't know but Wish me luck anyway!