MelB2012

If that can't give you the courtesy of giving you advancenotice.... I wouldn't go out of your way to do any extras for them. Not that I'm being rude... but how can they really expect that? It's not very reasonable.

Yea, I don't know how many RSVP's I'll actually get back either. Like my parents for instance... my Mom will keep hers, for keepsake. Lol. But my fiance has a lot of family in the states, and we are inviting some friends from either end of the country, so we don't really expect them to fly with our group (out of Toronto.) So they may just book their trips seperately, and I still need to know if they are coming..... I'm actually really excited. I had my passport invitations made by a local company, with a postcard reply card. It's going into printing today. So I should be able to send them within the first couple weeks in February. Yay!

I'm getting married at the Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica on November 15th, 2013. I have 18 people booked so far, including us, but I haven't sent my invitations out yet. Invitations will go out in February, and I'm asking for RSVP's by June. I think that's fair. We're expecting 30-40 people to actually come to the wedding. Which is perfect! Enough for a party, but we'll still be able to have a good time, and see everybody.

My finace and I were definitely brought together by fate. It sounds cliche, but it really cannot be described any other way. My Mom got remarried about 5 years ago to my step dad whom has been in my life since I was 18 y/o. I moved out shortly after they started dating, and came to a point where I needed better employment. I was miserable. My step dad had a friend that was looking for some office help, and I jumped at the opportunity. This "friend" was actually someone my step dad has known for years (he was his teacher in high school, and they remained friends.) In fact, one of my parents first dates was at this "friends" wedding.... yep, that's right. So I went for an interview with the owner of the company, got the job, and met my now fiance, on my first day of employment. Lol. What are the chances that my Mom meets her husband, and marries... and then I meet someone through her husband, who I would have never met otherwise, and we are now set to be married in November 2013 in Jamaica. I call it fate.... Our engagement story is short, but romantic. We went on vacation last May for a bit of a Euro-Trip. We really wanted to explore London, and then visit my grandparents in Spain. We arranged our trip to have a stop in Paris... turned our for only 1 day. We landed at 6am... and off we went. Dropped off our luggage, climbed the Eiffel Tower... that's right CLIMBED in 30+ degrees. Lol. Took a stroll down to the Pont des Artes (where all the locks are) and put our own engraved lock. Went to the louvre, went to eat, and then went to lie in the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower all lit up. Now, if I was going to get engaged... at some point during this day is when I thought it would happen.... Nope. No ring. Lots of fun, and amazing (but long) day.... but no ring... Of course, I was thinking, there's not a whole lot romantic about London... even the Royals have some crazy stories to tell that are anything but romantic....So there was no way he was going to propose there. And although Spain can be romantic, we were spending the week with my grandparents... and I knew he would prefer to have an intimate moment with me, rather then have my grandparents there for the proposal. So after Paris, I figured it just wasn't going to happen. We had an amazing time in London, going different places everyday by Tube (and will always remember to "Mind the Gap" LOL), and then went to Alicante. We had a pretty laid back time there, going to the beach, and some market shopping, etc... no proposal. On the last day of our trip, we went to the city (Alicante) as our flight was in the evening, so we spent the day at the Castillo de Santa Barbara (as my finace really enjoys visiting historical sites) with my grandparents, and kind of split up and started roaming around (it wasn't huge - and very old)... We climbed to the highest point of the castle, where when you looked one way it was all mountains, and the other way was a gorgeous beach, with yachts trailing the horizon. It was beautiful. Darcy pulled me aside, away from any crowds, and proposed. Can I tell you exactly what he said? No, I was pretty much balling. Ha ha!! But I'll never forget how I felt in that moment. And he was so precious, and so nervous... he was holding both my hands, and almost put the ring on my right hand. And now I'll tell you, just for laughs, what we did next.... My grandmother was sitting at a little outdoor cafe (where we could see her from the top of the castle.) so we went to tell her the news, the best way I knew how. We approached her, and she started to tell me about some delicious pastry she had (Oh Nan.....) and I said "We just came from up there (pointing) and I found the most beautiful rock!"... "Oh yea?" she says, "Let me see...." So I held my left hand out to her, and she looked at the ring... and said "Oh... that's nice, you found that up there?".... (Oh Nan!!!!!) Yes, Darcy gave it to me.... She still didn't get it... NAN, we're engaged!! And then came the tears.... again. Lol. Anyways, that's my engagement story. Atop a castle in the south of Spain. Simple, Romantic... perfect for us.

If you have your heart set on having petals covering the walkway, there are alternatives you can do.... I have seen some DIY projects where girls have glued fake petals in their wedding colours to a wide ribbon, and created runners down the aisle. I'm not very big on floral anything.... so I'm not encorporating too much flowers, other than bouquets. Something to think about.

Our ceremony is at 4:00pm. I would have prefered 3pm, but I was only given a couple times to choose from. My group will be at the resort from the 9th-16th. I did fill out most of the form. They told me to send them as much information as I could up front, and then they would just keep updating, but they insisted on having the form filled out (versus just emailing them information.) I haven't put a deposit, but they confirmed my date and time in writing. I was told I only need to put a deposit, I think it was 2 months prior? I'll do it sooner than that, but apparently there was no rush. I reserved my date back in August/September. I figured I was safe to at least wait until 2013. Haha. And no worries about picking my brain. This forum is FULL of information... I'm learning much more than I can contribute so far. There's another girl I've met here that is getting married the 14th (although I haven't heard from her in a while.) It's amazing who you can meet online!! Lol.

I'd be interested in attending a Gran Bahia Principe (Jamaica) webinar.

We will see you there! We're confirmed for November 15th, 2013. The countdown is ON! We booked our dinner at the Dolce Vita, as I read they have a semi-private dinner there. And then we booked the Gazebo for the evening.We also have 30-something people coming with us. I don't think, for 30-some-odd guests, you need a completely private room. Just my opinion.

I'm hoping not to have this issue at all. I have two girls, my MOH who has already put her deposit (and I've only known for 2 years, but we are great friends), and my Bridesmaid who lives across the country - is a travel agent and will be booking her own trip, and has not started yet.... But we've been close for 8-some odd years. I know the groomsmen won't bail - they better not!! My step-father was actually my FH's teacher in high school (he was a young teacher) and they ended up being best friends, and then he met and married my mom.... and THEN I met my FH. SO... my step dad is the best man! Haha. And my brother is the second groomsmen... and they've put their deposits. I hope everything works out... I'm sorry to hear about how some people can be so selfish. My girls are so uncomfortable with being the centre of attention, they don't want to even do a speech... so I told them they could do a tandom speech - even though they only just met last week. Lol. The joys of wedding planning!!

Lol. It's true. No one is every financially "ready" for a baby. Lucky for me, my man has 8 years on me, and was probably ready for a baby a couple years ago. But I want to be married first. We've lived together in his home for 4 years now... so I think we're as ready as we're ever going to be.

It's never too early to start. I'm only getting married in November 2013 and I started around August/September this year.

Haha! It`s true. Wedding planning is consuming all my free time. Personally, I am hoping for a Honeymoon Baby!! Lol. So I hope to pool my energy into pregnancy, building a nursery and planning for a baby!

Hey Bre, My Bridesmaid flies in from Calgary this week so we are going dress shopping for them on Thursday (EXCITING)... My girls are going to wear deep purple. I only have 2 girls in my wedding party (+ my flower girl who will probably wear white with a purple waist band or something.) Now, for the guys - I have no clue. My FH doesn't want me to get involved in what he wears... but I HAVE to! Lol. I've suggested grey linen with a purple tie (a vest with no jacket, sleeves rolled up... LOVE IT) but he apparently doesn't like grey because it is gloomy. I really don't think a beige suit can incorporate any purple, it just won't work. I have potentially sold him on a light grey suit (borderline white, but not quite...) But I will only be using Turquoise to accent the purple wherever I can. We've definitely challenged ourselves with these colours, but I love them so - Challenge Accepted.

My Travel Agent gave me a locked in rate for 90 days, and if I had a total (including us) of 5 rooms booked in that 90 days, it would lock in my rate. Period. The only movement it can make is going down. My TA DID tell me that many people will wait to book until the last minute - it's an unfortunate trend. I had to put some pressure on some people, namely my parents (my step-dad is a deal finder and wanted to find a better price)... but we ended up getting 8 rooms booked before the 90 days. Now there's still over a year to go, and we're expecting, probably another 8 rooms booked. I'll be happy with 30-40 people. The important folks will be there.

I love that everyone's talking about our puppy-dogs. I would love to have my lab be in our wedding, but at 90lbs... and he's a lab so he's always full of energy, even at 7 y/o. I can't really bring him to Jamaica, or our honeymoon. We'll be gone for 2 weeks too. Married in Jamaica, and then somewhere else for our honeymoon - maybe DR. Anyways, here's picture of my chocolate lab... his name is Hershey

I vote #8 Gonzalo Nunez

Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica, November 15, 2013

Umm .. LOVE Cheesecake Factory. There are no GREAT cheesecake places around here. I always have to make my own when I want great cheesecake!

Hey EV, It might not be such a strange request... I'm sure they've done enough weddings... There's gotta be ONE other bride out there who wanted blue orchids at her DR wedding. I'm pretty sure they are dyed - so I'm guessing they are white orchids with that deep purple tip, and then the blue dyed seeps into the centre of the flower? I Love them regardless. When I found out I could get them, my mind was set, and my colours were picked for me Deep Purple, Turquoise and Cream.

I based my colours off of the Blue/Purple orchid. Where are you getting married? You may have already mentioned it.... I'm getting married in Jamaica, and they definitely have the Blue/Purple Orchid there.

I'd also be interested in Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica. I'm getting married there November 15, 2013.

My Fiance is 8 years older than I. I'm 26, and he's 34.

I'm a Maggie Sottero Bride!! I haven't officially ordered my dres syet, but I'll be going in for my measurements next week. My Mom is actually buying my dress... she's late on everything, so I have to push her to get that deposit in!! I may not be able to wait!! Haha!