EVKnowsitall

Haha Pokeyholly, You found me! This has to be my favorite thread. I was scared to go on here because I worried I would see dresses I loved more than my own and have dress regret. But I love it! It's nice to see all the different concepts, dresses, and blushing brides. Plus- since no one is supposed to see your dress- its fun to share in "secret" with the brides on this forum. I was dying for some feedback and it was killing me I couldn't show my dress to anyone. I don't know anyone here personally but I feel like I went shopping with all the brides haha. This is a big, fat, episode of Say Yes to The Dress- Destination Edition. Can't wait to see yours! Have fun shopping!

Honestly, In my opinion- The BJ's cheesecake tastes better than the Cheesecake Factory! Ladies make your own cheesecake or head to BJ's- I'm telling you its delicious and its a variety platter so it has different types.- Did you know The Cheesecake factory doesn't make their own cheesecake! They order it from somewhere else.

Beautiful color scheme. I love it! The church we are marrying in is all white. We thought the blue palette would give it that nautical feel without us having to resort to a "beachy" themes wedding. Although our reception is on the beach- nothing about our decor or details screams tropics. Originally I wanted a peacock theme and we bought all this peacock stuff but when I looked at it together I thought- "hmm this has the potential to get tacky" so I scaled it back a bit and kept the peacock blue as a color.

Such a flattering dress. I love the asymmetrical gathering and of course- the belt- because I like things that sparkle. But its just right- not overdone.

I love this dress! It has so much going on. I love the top, the gathering on the side just stunning.

MelB- Our thread was moved to this shoutbox! I'm getting married in Punta Cana, DR and so far- I have not seen the blue/purple orchid in any photos. I do not think they have it there. I googled to see if they did but no answers. My sister is a baker and works next door to a florist. She says they are dyed blue- they don't actually grow that way. They are fed water with a blue dye and the dye travels to the petals and turns it blue. If thats the case- I know my resort has white orchids lol Can I request that they feed the orchid water with blue dye before my wedding? That would probably be a strange request for them.

Speaking of random posts- My fiance and I are finalists in a wedding contest to win a full reception. The pool was narrowed down to 103 people and they will randomly draw a ticket and if your ticket corresponds you win! We were thinking of hosting an AHR so hey- why not? Prior to planning my destination wedding I entered a ton of wedding contests- I don't know if this makes me 1) a little wee bit of a loser 2) a little wee bit of a cheapskate 3) A wedding addict 4) all the above. Honestly- my philosophy is if you can get it free why not. But I did worry that asking people to vote for us for too many contests "cheapened" the real value and meaning behind my wedding so I stopped publicizing them and entered private ones. I was a finalist to be a model for a new wedding gown designer and the brides each won a free gown. I was one of 15 finalists but I didn't win- still it was fun to experience. I was also a finalist for a Davids Bridal contest for $2500 cash- but I didn't win that either. Always a finalist never a winner. My fiance is like "I love you but enough already" But I put him through the ringer one last time. We haven't told anyone and we won't if we win. Our little secret. We are still forging ahead with our wedding in DR because that's the most important to us. Hope everyone is having a great evening. I have a dog too Abbie- a Jack Russell. I wanted her to be my ring bearer but I refuse to risk traveling with her because they can quarantine the dog if they choose to and then she'd be stuck in DR for 30 days in a cage in an airport. I love her too much for that.

I don't know what flowers to use. I like Hydrangeas but I'm told they wither easily in the sun. I myself am having a jewelry bouquet instead of fresh flowers. I am collecting pins from all my female family members to make the bouquet. But I do want flowers in the centerpieces. There are these blue/ purple orchids that are really pretty. Just don't know if the resort will have them.

I really want an AHR and so does my mother. My fiance and his mother don't want one. But my fiance is more concerned with budget and feels if I can cut corners and find the money elsewhere- he is open to the idea. I want to wear my dress again- why not it cost way too much haha. But I doubt I'll do a second ceremony. That seems silly but I was curious to see if other brides do it. In some multicultural weddings they have more than one wedding. My Muslim Yugoslavian friends just married her Muslim Bangladeshi husband and their wedding took place over the course of 4 days. She had her Yugoslavian party one day, his bangladeshi party another day, their muslim religious ceremony, and then a reception where she wore a white wedding dress. I definitely can't afford that and we are the same religion and he's Dominican and I'm Puerto Rican so not much variance there. But I wanted to celebrate with some coworkers and family who can't make it to our DW in DR.

Beautiful and bold. I love orchids! Are you going to wear some in your hair or decorate with them?

Thanks! I gave the girls 5 options from the same designer- First we tried on different designers and they settled on a designer they liked who carried the color I was looking for- this color is a pain in the ass to find. Then, I selected 5 styles from the site that I liked. I told them I was ok with each of them choosing a different dress as long as it was one of the 5- because I knew all 5 were the same fabric and color so it would be consistent. When all was said and done- all 5 of my BM's chose the same dress so thank goodness it worked out haha. The designer is Bari Jay- his dresses are a little pricey. Originally I chose some Alfred Angelo dresses I liked, dresses from a store called Camille La Vie, Bill Levkoff, and David's Bridal. None of my girls fancied any of the other designs. Even though this was the most expensive they picked it- but hey- that's on them lol

Excellent! That is exactly my dilemma. My fiance and I plunked down $1,000 for a room block and now we are having trouble getting the rooms off of our hands! I keep trying to let people know that we indeed found them the best deal and searching online will not yield a better deal. I am going to take some of your ideas and edit my website accordingly. Thank you for this well thought out and phrased "nudge" in the right direction for guests.

That's nice that you are buying them for the girls. I actually gave my girls lots of options and they chose the most expensive one. And then complained later lol but they refuse to even consider some of the less expensive dresses I have shown them.

I posted my dresses in the bridesmaid thread but I'll post here too. I picked out my dress in April because it was being custom made but they worked on quicker than they said and it was ready in August- Initially they told me 9 months to make it! So its sitting in a vault. Bridemaids dresses- it depends- if you buy off the rack you can get them with minimal time but if you want a particular one you'll need time. I went bridesmaids looking a few weeks ago but my bridesmaids want to lose weight before committing to a dress so we will resume shopping in February- our wedding is in July- I think thats enough time. This is the girls dress: And here is my color scheme- My fiances suit is a dark gray with blue.

Beautiful- even in the blush! I originally Loved Maggie Sottero's but when I saw them in person I didn't like them- or should I say I didn't like the ones the store I went to carried. Broke my heart lol But I see so many brides on this thread with Maggie's and really nice ones! This gown is gorgeous.

My color scheme is similar- You don't necessarily need 150 posts- but you do if you want to open attachments. IUt's really not too big of a deal. Most people wont attach things- they put the picture in the body of the post using the image icon. I have seen plenty and posted my own even though I haven't reached 150. I call the teal "peacock" because the designer of my bridesmaid dress calls the color peacock- although it has confused some of the bridesmaids haha. We are going with a palette of blues as our color scheme- aqua, navy, and peacock. Recently Davids bridal posted a picture with all three saying it was the trend this year. I was like "hey now don't give away my ideas" haha.

Roll with the punches* Not role haha.

Hey Pokeyholly I have indeed gone dress shopping. It was by far my most favorite activity to date. I took my MOH, my mother, and my mother in law. We went dress shopping and then to a Sangria brunch to celebrate that I said yes to the dress. You are going to have so much fun. I hope you find a dress. If not- you'll get to go twice haha. I can't wait to wear mine. We will probably have around 24 guests which is what our hotel gives us in the package price. The package I selected is $5,000 and $100 for each additional guest, so we were willing to pay the extra $2,600 for 50 guest total. If we end up with 24- we save that money so thats all the more reason for an AHR lol. At first I was upset with the idea of a low guest count but you are right. A few people confirmed and the ones who are attending are so excited. They are always talking about how this is such a great idea and they wish they had thought of a destination wedding and a few of my friends said they always pegged be to be a DW bride. I'm just going to stay calm and collected and role with the punches. It's going to be great. Happy Dress shopping! Don't forget to take pics and post in the Show Us Your Dress Thread. My dress is there somewhere in the 600's section haha.

Yep- she sure did. My cousin and her husband were also invited and they invited their mothers but she understood without my telling her that the mothers could not attend the wedding. They are just staying in the hotel with them- which doesn't bother me one bit. I let her know that if we received negative RSVP's and were under our guest count the mothers would be more than welcome. It's just the approach. I'd rather be asked than to have people assume. Etiquette is a rare commodity.

Hello Forum Friends, I know there are some At Home Reception (AHR) threads out there but I didn't spot anything recent. I wanted to know what 2013 brides were doing for their AHR's and use this space to ask questions about proper AHR etiquette and share pics and ideas. I always wanted an AHR but my fiance fought me tooth and nail, saying the point of a destination wedding was to save money. He rationalized- if we can afford an AHR why not just have that be our wedding? My reasoning was that I would compromise heavily for an AHR knowing it wasn't truly my wedding. I'd accept a brunch option, a smaller or non-traditional venue (like a restaurant), a smaller guest count, less decor- things I would not be willing to compromise for a full wedding. When we were planning our Stateside wedding- we locked a contract with a DJ and paid a $1500 non-refundable deposit. So I have a DJ I paid half for- and no use for him- why not make him work? So here are my questions: 1) Is it tacky to just have a wine and beer option (which is significantly cheaper) as opposed to an open bar? 2) What do ladies think about holding an AHR on a non-traditional day (Sunday as opposed to Saturday) 3) Do you think guests expect the same thing at an AHR that they expect at a full blown wedding reception? How do you clarify to people that it is not the same as a full blown wedding- but maybe close to it in terms of dress etc.? 4) Are any 2013 brides planning to have an AHR that includes a ceremony? Which would really mean you're having two weddings (if you want to get technical)... I think that's pushing it but many venues include the ceremony space free of charge on-site. Would you use it if it were included? I might win this AHR argument with the fiance because my MOH and mother were splitting the cost of the venue for my bridal shower. I don't want a bridal shower. I suggested an AHR would be a better use of funds- especially because they would cost about the same. All the venues they were considering for my bridal showers are places I would host an AHR. And of course I wouldn't let them pay for it alone! Some of my close friends say to forego an AHR and go for broke in DR instead (think hire fire-dancers, a cake upgrade, a welcome reception or extra extravagances to make the wedding more memorable) Sorry for the long post! I am genuinely curious to hear other brides' thoughts, feedback and ideas. So ladies... To AHR or not?- that is the question.

That's actually a great way to handle it. Granted people want to save money and stay at a resort they think is less expensive- and you can't collect money the day of like the troll at the bridge- but just because your guests want to save a buck shouldn't mean it should cost you! I have been grappling with this myself and my Fiance has no bones about telling people to pay their own way- but I was on the fence about it. I too, searched for a way to word the invite that let people know they should book through our travel agent. I saw some suggestions on the site from where we ordered our invites. "strongly encouraged to book through our travel agent" etc. As far as people inviting themselves-the ther bride here who suggested patience is right. I think people huff and puff but in the end, they weed themselves out. At first everyone said they were coming- we actually worried we would be over the guest count. Then so many people gave us grief about how expensive it was and we were worried no one would come. Now we have a few people booking so I'm going to take it easy and see what happens. One dilemma I ran into- was people deciding to turn the wedding into their family vacations and inviting their whole family. Case in point- I invited a coworker/friend. She invited her mother, her sister, her sisters husband and their 5 kids, and her other sister and her two kids, and her brother... I only invited her... When I sent the Save The Dates- her mother asked how come she didn't get one. I was hoping she would have the sense to realize bc she wasn't invited and spare me the awkward conversation but hat didn't happen. I flat out told her we had a strict limit on guests and we simply could not go over. I wanted to tell her my wedding wasn't her family reunion/ free-for-all, but how do you tell people- your family can't stay at the resort? You really can't. As luck would have it- it costs too much and they all decided to stay elsewhere and she is just coming as a guest to our wedding. Awkward convo spared and friendship intact. Sometimes it just takes waiting it out a bit.

Thanks! I wrote something corny for now haha. I wanted one but then I was like "Do I really want to put how many guests have booked or some quote I found online?" So then I was stumped. I just had a momentary excitement because 4 guests called to tell me they booked. And after my night- that was some silver lining.

Question- how do people get those signatures at the bottom of their posts that say "10 guests booked and counting" or "marrying my best friend" LOL I want one!

Oh My. I am so sorry. I feel for you. This would be the thing to make me go Bridezilla postal. I'm glad you moved your reservation. You should try to sample a few meals at other restaurants and know which to eat at so when guests get there you can suggest the good spots and have them avoid the bad ones. Breathe- have a glass of champagne (don't know if you drink lol) And think about your wedding. You have time to be a demanding diva and straighten them out before the actual wedding. You will be a beautiful bride. Your family is on their way. It will work out. I'm rooting for you

Yea the guest list dwindles and dwindles and you know what- I'm ok with that. Because the people who want to be there will and the complainers won't come and ruin my day! My mom called me to tell me both of my sisters told her they aren't coming- and that's me putting it nicely. If it's just my parents, my fiances parents, and our bridal party (8 of our friends) I'm ok with that. Breathe in, breathe out, and reconcile lol At the very least- I will fall within the 24 guests included in our package and not pay for extras! Win win. We are trying to swing a small return reception here. I had a cute idea of having our invitations say "In Case You Missed it...Elvin and Evelyn got married...please join us for a welcome back party as they introduce themselves as husband and wife for the first time" My MOH and mother were going to squander money on a bridal shower (I HATE bridal showers btw... and I live with my fiance- so we don't need duplicate toasters and blenders). I convinced them instead of putting the money toward that- they can help me host the return reception. We already have a DJ because we could not get our DJ contract cancelled and our money refunded (to the tune of $1500 down the drain.) So it's time to make that DJ work for his money. We will send separate invites because my fear is if I note this on our destination invites- people will just attend the reception here and we consider our actual wedding to be the exchange of vows that will take place in DR. I'm busy scouring the internet for inexpensive locations. The restaurant where we got engaged will do a buffet dinner and open bar for $45 per person. They also include the centerpieces (not floral- candelabras or birch trees) and the uplighting. They have a catering facility next door to the restaurant. It's nice and modern- not where I would host my wedding but a return reception- sure, why not ; ) Here's the pic- Can't really tell but all I could scoop from FB. I had pics in my phone but I deleted them. I organize my High School's prom, graduation and I booked a spot and am hoping that they cut me some slack for a return reception. Funny how they will book a prom and charge a really low rate but inflate it and the minimum guest count for a wedding! ABSURD. But here it is: It's an air conditioned tent on a Golf Course in a park close to where I live. Time for wheelin and dealin LOL