agm04

they look great! I vote for metallic cord. Like you said, this will be the first time most people have seen these! I think metallic cord would up the wow factor a little without being too over the top. Fun!

I feel like I've made some serious headway in the last few weeks! Feels so good, although I still have so much to do it makes my head spin. We registered, put together invitations (they'll be going out today - yay!), I put down deposits for our group flight, got my table numbers 75% done, finished my DIY aisle liners (tulle pomanders, they took FOREVER), got about 1/4 of my luggage tags sewn, ordered matron of honor and flower girl gifts, found and ordered toasting flutes, chose cake design/vendor and put down the deposit, ordered ceremony shoes, got gifts for parents, ordered all the remaining items for welcome bags (except for the rum cakes, which I'll pick up there), booked hotel for our honeymoon...whew. So much stuff.

Oh let us know how the trip goes! How fun. I wish I could do that, too. I don't think I'm doing a bridal shower, and - sorry! - I don't know what a stagette is. Some of my moms friends wanted to throw me a shower, but it just doesn't make sense logistically, since that would be in TX and I live in NY. Getting all the gifts back to NY would cost a small fortune!

Thanks Lola - question though...what is the purpose of the beading glue? Sorry if that's a dumb question. I may go back and put it on my completed ones if it's worthwhile.

I bought a bunch of already-beaded strands - it might have even been a necklace - then cut them and used the beads. I think I ended up using 2mm string, so I think the smallest beads must be 3mm? Maybe 4? Sorry I'm not sure! Good luck.

Haha I said the same thing. Love it about him.

absolutely! and the only people who can't come to mine that i'm really disappointed about are 2 friends who will be extremely pregnant or just have given birth, and they wouldn't have been able to come anyway. i like "cuts out the riff raff" - totally true! ha. I will admit that it's added up to be a lot more than I expected, but I know I'm going to cherish the memories with my friends and family so much.

Hi! Welcome. Is the 10k you're looking to spend including travel/accommodations for you and the groom? Tell us more about what you want to do and I'll be glad to help however I can. I think, if the 10k doesn't have to include travel and hotel, there are ways that you can fit within that budget.

Thank you! I can't wait for them to go out. So excited!

So true! I agree - not fun. And then there are all the well-meaning people that offer to "help" and then take forever and you wish you'd done it yourself to begin with. Ha. I am a control freak for a reason. Well anyway good luck, and I want to hear about all the little details as it gets closer!

Unbelievable! How many people are you going to have to call? We're sending out our invites next week! My mom and I got them totally ready to go while I was home for Christmas. I made them, she did the calligraphy, and they're all ready. Exciting! But now I'm dreading the wait to get RSVPs. The thing we're having a hard time with right now is flights. Long story short, we ended up with an option out of JFK we didn't think we'd have. Round trip it's $340 per person if we can get 10 people - which should be NO problem at all, I already have the deposit for 8 - but people are taking their sweet time deciding if they want in. That's a crazy good price and I need to go ahead and reserve seats for those I have a deposit, but I can't until people decide! Baaaah. I am just not a patient person. Wedding planning has made that clear.

What is wrong with people?! I think once in my life I've failed to return an RSVP card (I think I lost it in a mail pile) and I still called the bride and was embarrassed that I hadn't sent it back. I also put the capability on the website, and hoped that it helped, but sounds like it doesn't fix the problem! Ah well good to know I guess? It must be so frustrating waiting for the to-dos that require a final head count. Keep me posted!

I got embroidered hankys for all the parents. May not be a great idea for all the dads out there, but my dad always carries one and I knew he's like it. (He's a softy. Haha.) FI and I will also give them a canvas of their choice as a gift after the wedding. This was just a small thing for the day of. I also like the idea of a family excursion or something. Here's what my hankys say - and they all have Love, Amanda and our wedding date underneath: For my mom: "To dry your tears as you have always dried mine." My dad: "You will always be the first man I ever loved." FI's mom: "Thank you for raising the man of my dreams." FI's dad: "Thank you for your example of a husband and father. I am blessed to marry your son." Not for everyone but great for us!

Ah ok - thanks! I almost did the same thing and was going to have mine made at LUCA, but they're actually a little more expensive there, so I went the other way. Your wedding is getting SO CLOSE! How are you feeling about everything?

For me, given that the areas I'm unwilling to cut corners (food and alcohol) aren't really any cheaper no matter where you go, the savings is in having fewer guests willing to travel to a destination wedding. If I'd had a wedding for 400 people back home, I would have spent the same amount of money and had to cut corners in the same places (flowers, centerpieces, smaller bridal party, etc) - and then some. Having fewer people in Grand Cayman means I can spend more on those 100 - better food, alcohol, doing nice welcome bags, etc, even if it does cost the same amount overall. Off the cuff I think $10k is doable if it's SMALL and if you are willing to make sacrifices on certain things. Good luck!

I'm not totally sure, but I think rather than doing a seating chart, I'm just going to do a simple list. Like: Mr. and Mrs. John Smith - Table 1 I know it wouldn't work if you had a ton of tables, but we're probably going to have 10 or less so I figure people can pretty easily find their seat. It was stressing me out trying to come up with another solution. I'll probably just put it in a very large frame (maybe 2 copies so there's not a bottleneck at the beginning of the reception). Good luck!

Hey ladies, Who are you all using for cake? Just the venue? I just put down a deposit with The Cake Studio. I'm finding that choosing a cake design is one of the tougher decisions for me. How silly.

I would have loved to go crazy on nice beads but I kept reminding myself I'd only be wearing them for 30 minutes. Good luck!

that's exactly what I did!

Oh yeah I def could have spent that, I'm just cheap. Haha. I used a coupon and got just a couple of strands of the nicer beads, and mostly used an inexpensive strand of tiny, inexpensive ones. The gold oval things I bought online for like $3 for both.

I think I spent about $15 on the materials for 3 pair (and could make more for that). Definitely cheaper than any I've seen for sale.

Thank you guys!

So happy to finally have these ready to mail! I spent an absurd amount of time price shopping for all the paper, had them printed at a local art store (but I designed for the most part). I mounted the main invitation on the 5x7 navy pieces, and I also lined all the envelopes - inner envelopes and RSVP ones - myself. Totally worth all the work now that they're put together! Here's the vendor and price list: Main invitation pretty paper - Paper Source (www.paper-source.com but I bought them in the actual store) - $18.50 for 20 sheets 5x7 navy cardstock that I used for mounting - Paper Presentation (www.paperpresentation but again, I bought all my stuff in the store) - $8.50 for 25 Navy inner envelopes (navy A7) - Paper Presentation - 5.75 for 25 Pearlescent outer envelopes (Opal size A7 outer) - Paper Presentation - 10.95 for 25 4 bar pearlescent card stock for response cards - www.paperandmore.com - $6.99 for 100 4 bar RSVP envelopes - Paper Presentation - 4.25 for 25 8.5 x 11 Pearelscent paper - I used for both lining envelopes and for the accommodation cards (printed 4 to a page) - www.paperandmore.com - $16.99 for 100 sheets (it was champagne metallic text weight paper) 7/8 inch navy ribbon for belly bands - $7.95 for 2 rolls, I think small capiz shells - bought on ebay for $18 for 10, I think seller was shellshack but not positive Printing - local art store - came out to about $175 total, and this was the absolute cheapest I could find. I would have done it myself but it just wasn't worth the crazy it was causing. We had to use .65 cent stamps going out, .45 worked for RSVP of course. So all together, excluding postage, they came out to about $5.50 each and including postage, $6.60ish. A LOT more than I'd planned to spend, but I think not bad considering I got exactly what I wanted. I used glue sticks for lining the envelopes (but I wouldn't again - they get sort of crackly). Used Elmer's glue dot runner to mount the main invitations (that's what I'd use for liners if I had a do-over I think). Also used the glue dot runner to glue the ribbon together and to glue the capiz shell to the ribbon. Couldn't find anything else that would work for that part! The accommodation card was just printed on the pearescent paper, but the printing people put the same swirly design as the main invitation on it for me. I also had a card from American Airlines wtih our group discount code included, but I forgot to take a picture of that and I ran out. My mom did the addressing - she did a wonderful job. And I think it's obvious that I am an amateur at photo editing. Haha.