EVKnowsitall

Awww I wanted to have an E-session and include our dog. You can use them at the reception for a slideshow, or frame a few of them and use them as table numbers, or hang them in a line as guests are coming in to sign the guestbook etc.

Haha the more party the better! My friend is Punjabi and Indian parties go on for days. Her wedding was 3 days long and she had an after party after her final night too. We just started laying the groundwork for our AHR because we weren't sure we'd have the finances to pull it off. We went with the location that gave us the most bang for our buck but are planning on seeing if we can get a few items taken off to make the cost cheaper- like foregoing a cake (an assortment of cookies, cannolis etc is passed out to each table- do we really need a cake on top of this?) Our initial DJ cost was $3,100. We paid $1,500 to secure the DJ and it was non-refundable, so after we decided to do a DW- we could not get the $1,500 back. It broke my heart to throw it down the drain and I knew I wanted an AHR anyway- so I decided to put the DJ to work at the AHR. The place has a 50 person minimum so we will book for 50 but increase the amount as we find out who will attend. The DJ comes with a percussionist so we are really going for less of a wedding feel and more of a cocktail party feel. I am not sure about wearing my dress again. It cost an arm and a leg and was bought by my mother and I'll never have the chance to wear it again. I am not keen on having to purchase a separate dress. I already have to buy either a knockoff or a second dress for my TTD- I think I will recycle my actual gown for my AHR. It's too fabulous of a dress not to be seen in! haha Our AHR will be a week after our wedding. We depart our 7/5/13 wedding on 7/3/13 and return on 7/10/13- a Wednesday, so we didn't want to host it that very weekend. We have not confirmed but it would be the Thursday- Sunday of the week after our return.

I am so excited about my cake topper! Oddly enough, it is one of the things I am most excited about because it is being custom made and gives us a chance to show off our personalities a bit. I ordered the topper from a seller on Etsy- her name is Serena Kim and her company is called Clayphory. She is in Hong Kong, but apparently shipping is not an issue. I had to wait until I had pictures in my dress from my fitting and a picture of my fiances suit. She will add anything to the topper you ask. I was wrecking my brain for a cute topper that wasn't the standard bride and groom and I came up with this concept: I am a teacher so I would be at the front of the class teaching my new husband and my dog- because we haaaaad to include our dog- and the chalkboard would say "you are now husband and wife" with our wedding date 7/5/13. I sent her all my info including pics of my dress, his suit, the dog, and our faces. Literally the next day, she sent me a sketch. She has been a pleasure to work with so far and made the whole process stress free. Here is our sketch: I cannot wait to see the finished product. This brought me so much joy to a gloomy run of the mill Tuesday at work haha.Who knew a cake topper could bring you joy? LOL

Fiery Nurse your pics are beautiful. Congratulations!

Same here! Our wedding is 7/5/13. We don't have any significant numbers to us. I mean, I could contrive a story, but the truth is, we don't celebrate the day we met, the day we began to date or any of those. We became engaged November 6, 2011 and wanted to have a summer wedding because I am a teacher and I did not want to be in the throws of a school year for my wedding. We realized however, that we did not have the time to save if we wed that summer, so we started looking at Summer 2013 dates. Thank goodness because at that time we were planning a stateside reception before ultimately deciding on a destination wedding. Our initial wedding date was 6/28/13. My godmother got on my case about how it is bad luck to switch and how she thinks destination weddings are bad luck so we decided to get our license legally in NY on our original date of 6/28/13 so we wouldn't "jinx" ourselves haha. I guess the 5 and 13 in our date are significant. 5 is the month we started dating- May and 13 is my fiances bday. But we really just chose the date because 4th of July weekend gives our guests the fourth of July weekend without having to take many days off, it meant I was done with work, my coworkers could come...and that's pretty much the gist. I really did not want to pick that date because 3 of my friends got married fourth of July weekend- but what can you do?

Sorry for the multiple posts ladies- the mobile version is a little glitchy. I wanted to say...without posting a bajillion times that I love your convertible dress brgephar and at $87! What a steal...one should be so lucky lol I looked for great bargains to no avail but congrats on finding yours!

Agreed. I'm not so much a control freak- but I like lists and scheduling things and knowing they are taken care of. I thought planning a DW would be less stressful but sometimes I think it's more stressful! I think its more fun because I know the pot of gold that's waiting at the end of the rainbow, and planning a whole week of fun in the sun surely beats planning just a one day 5 hour reception thats over in the blink of an eye, but its difficult to not be able to meet with vendors. I feel like so much is up in the air, so hammering things out is definitely necessary for my sanity. Many vendors are permanently on vacation lol so response times are slower than normal. That's great! Post your invites when you receive them. I can't wait for ours. I also can't wait to create a planning thread. I went to start one but then I read the directions and its supposed to be done 1-2 weeks before the wedding once you have most of your things taken care of.

This is so cute! I love it!

Our budget is $15-$20,000. Right now we have 30 guests. I feel like I cut corners but when I do the calculations, it's still a little pricey. What we have tabulated is closer to the $15,000 with our flights and stay included. My bone of contention is since we asked guests to travel so far, I have a few non negotiables. I also insisted on a full Catholic church ceremony which was costly-$1,000 in DR, but I also had to pay to take pre-marriage courses in NY- $275. Even at $20,000 it is less than our $40,000 wedding in NY and its a week as opposed to 5 hours in one day. I'm also trying to squeeze a return cocktail party into that budget- that's the REAL challenge haha. It is probably not even likely I'll be successful- but I already asked my mother and MOH to forego a bridal shower in the interest of helping me With a return cocktail party.

Hey they responded finally and are available. Whew! Now we're in business. Thanks for offering your help. I was more in need of a contract do I could rest assured we were officially booked.

Thanks so much Katryne, Uhura, Choco and Dazey! I'm still on my high after trying it on. Dazey- I lost a lot of weight prior to becoming engaged because my doctor told me I was borderline obese. Thanks for the compliment! Lol I think the dress is a little tight because I tried it on back in April and I was so stressed out that I lost a little too much weight and that's how I was measured, so since then I've gained some back. No biggie. I'm not even worried about it becaus ethe holidays are upon us and there's no way I'm losing 5 pounds now lol But I agree. I absolutely adore your dress- you're a bride after my heart. I'm a little over the top but there are so many elements of our wedding that are toned down so I felt like-screw it I'm going all out on my dress. Ou church is all white with a grey marble floor and I don't plan on decorating it. I want it to be simple, and Our reception will be on the beach. I though the dress was lighter for travel though- but oh well lol I'm excited about taking some pics on the beach with my veil.

Thanks so much Katryne, Uhura, Choco and Dazey! I'm still on my high after trying it on. Dazey- I lost a lot of weight prior to becoming engaged because my doctor told me I was borderline obese. Thanks for the compliment! Lol I think the dress is a little tight because I tried it on back in April and I was so stressed out that I lost a little too much weight and that's how I was measured, so since then I've gained some back. No biggie. I'm not even worried about it becaus ethe holidays are upon us and there's no way I'm losing 5 pounds now lol But I agree. I absolutely adore your dress- you're a bride after my heart. I'm a little over the top but there are so many elements of our wedding that are toned down so I felt like-screw it I'm going all out on my dress. Ou church is all white with a grey marble floor and I don't plan on decorating it. I want it to be simple, and Our reception will be on the beach. I though the dress was lighter for travel though- but oh well lol I'm excited about taking some pics on the beach with my veil.

I am so elated I cannot contain myself. Dress regret is gone! Any ladies with dress regret- go try your dress on again. It really is a different experience than looking at a picture or seeing it on a hanger. Yesterday was my first fitting and we killed two birds with one stone by attending a veil and headpiece trunk show. I tried on my dress to make sure it fit (WOOOOW was it tight and HEAVY!...I have to lose about 5 pounds to be comfortable in it. It fits- but I can't sit comfortably in it). The sample wasn't heavy because it wasn't my correct size so it was just hanging but my actual dress- I think might weigh 10 pounds. I did not know it would be that heavy I will probably melt in July. That wasn't too well thought out but I guess you only have one wedding LOL For the veil and headpiece show, I put the sample on so I wouldn't ruin my dress. I went with a cathedral veil with a rhinestone trim. I got a separate headband so I can take the veil off for my reception. Originally I wanted to wear chandelier earrings and a teardrop necklace, but because I have a lot going on- I will probably wear simple pearl drop earrings and no necklace at all. You cant tell, but my dress has some pearl accents on the straps and on the bottom. I also decided to forego these ultra blinged out shoes I wanted. I am going to go with a plain pair of shoes- besides NO ONE can see my shoes under this thing. I was walking around in tube socks in these pictures lol. Going to my fitting made me super amped about the wedding! All I need to do is add cups to the dress because I can't wear a bra since the back is cut slightly below the bra strap.

Your plans sound like what I'm looking for! We have a venue where it will cost us $3,500 for our guests for wine and beer only with a full dinner and would be even cheaper if we just stuck to hors d'ouevres with a full open bar. The balance for our DJ is $1,900. The total was $3,400 and we already paid a non-refundable $1,500. The venue is a small banquet facility that is next door to/ part of the restaurant where we got engaged. It sort of has some significance to us. Its close to our home, we got engaged there and my grandma, who passed away this year was there when my fiance proposed. Since then we have celebrated our bdays there, and I asked my girls to be my bridesmaids over brunch there. The manager is super sweet and flexible. It isn't wow splendiferous gorgeous, but if we could afford wow splendiferous gorgeous- we would not be having a destination wedding in the first place! haha The place has its own sound system, comes with centerpieces, candles, spotlight lighting for the centerpieces, colored linens etc. It has a nice modern feel, and I know the food is good because I eat there all the time. I just had reservations because it does host multiple events at one time, and I was concerned about what guests would think. Reading many of these posts confirms to me that it doesnt matter. It's party party time! My fiance is not on board with an AHR. He feels it is unnecessary, but some of my family was really bummed they could not come to our DW (bigger families of 5, versus couples) I told my fiance that I would regret not having one and I did not want him to become the target of my regret because he didn't want one. Having a DW was a bit of a compromise on my end. My fiance wanted one from the beginning-so did his mom and after their weddings- many of my friends urged me to have one saying it was the best idea and they wish they could have had one. I have no doubt that my DW will be everything I am hoping for, but a piece of me wanted the big ass party with all my family and friends. Plus- its a great way to share our pictures- which I went for broke on! LOL

I'm a little miffed right now. Is anyone else having issues with DJ Mannia? I have tried THREE times now to have them send me information. I let my planning coordinator know I wanted to book them and she passed on their info. I sent an email, but there was no response. I noticed they used FB a lot so I took a stab and writing them a message there- Icontacted them on September 22nd. The next day, they sent a message back asking for my email which I sent. I never got an email or a response after that, so on November 15th, I sent a second message. On the 16th, they messaged me back assuring me someone from their office would get back to me that day. I never heard form anyone- so I sent a third message November 30th- still no response. I don't think I should have to hunt a vendor down like this. I'm annoyed because I hear they are the best. Everyone rants and raves about them. There is another wedding on my date and I already lost out on my desired location, so I am desperately trying to lock in my other vendors. In my initial correspondence, they said they were available on my date but who knows now? I am becoming increasingly concerned. There are people getting married after me who already have many of their vendors booked and for some reason, they are making this a truly frustrating experience for me. Is anyone else having an issue with them? Also- my invitations have not come in. I was told 4-6 weeks. It's week 6 and I haven't even seen the proof. At this point I am just extremely annoyed. How many emails can I send before I am the "annoying" bride? I send multiple emails to the person making my invitations as well and she has not responded. Is asking for an email too much to ask for in this day and age?

Your Your band is similar to mine. I can't wait to wear both of mine together either! Congrats!

India- First- Congratulations! Your wedding looked like so much fun. I'm sure you had a blast. Second- I'd like to thank you bunches for posting your pictures. I actually looked through each album and you are right- there aren't as many pics for PPR online. I loved looking at some of your unique ideas- "escort cards" on the glasses? Brilliant! Too bad we already bought ours haha. I love the way everything came together. We were concerned about Apollo Foyer as a location because we thought it was small but from your pics- it looks spacious enough to accommodate our party. We are scheduled for our reception on the beach, but if it rains the Foyer is our second location. I had a few questions if you don't mind- 1) I noticed you rented the bridal suite. The fee is not too much and I was considering it but just wanted to know if you considered it worth your while. 2) Was your cake included as it was or did you pay for an upgrade for the extra third tier? 3.) Did you use the house DJ or DJ Mannia- if you went with the house DJ, how was the music? Congrats on being a newlywed and enjoy your married life!

Best Way to be! we originally planned to have a stateside wedding and we wasted 5 months of planning before we decided to go with a destination wedding, so time on your side is good. We became engaged on November 7th, 2011 and our wedding date is July 5th, 2013- so we had a long engagement (because of our wasted 5 months ) We are also getting married in Punta Cana!