Barash

I am moving away from the April brides... We had to postpone our wedding date by a month, BUT we just booked the trip yesterday and the wedding coordinator confirmed this date change, so right now it looks more real than it did for April!

I actually considered "snowy" wedding. My FH and I do ski, so I was picturing something in Alps - France or Austria. The ceremony at the peak with amazing view and then something cozy in the evening with the fireplace (or fire outside!) for the reception. There were several show stoppers for me though: - the cold - I am a sun loving being and I feel more comfortable at +35C than at -35C. Of course you'd rarely have a really cold weather in the Alps, but still I prefer warm beach to winter mountains. - the dress - that partially comes from the cold. I just don't see myself in (any) wedding dress in winter. I don't even wear causal skirts in winter, and wool sweaters are my best friends in cold weather, so to compromise a nice wedding dress for an astonishing view wasn't in my plans. - the price - clearly Alps are more expensive than many southern destinations. Maybe we should consider it for the vows renewal?

I don't think there is any rule for the sellers to send a picture of the dress before shipping it. My reception dress was sent without any pics. I didn't ask them though and they didn't really reach out to me from the moment I placed the order. And the dress turned out to be really nice despite the seller having only a 92% positive feedback. For my ceremony dress the other seller I chose suggested sending the pictures of the dress before shipping, and it was even before I placed an order. I reminded them of this agreement a day or two before the estimated date of the dress to be ready. And in fact the dress looks even nicer "live" than on the pics! No worries Theebee! Weddingdress88 seems to be a good seller and I saw some positive feedback about them.

Same for me. ((

Thanks csho! It was a long way for me to make a decision on the ceremony dress. And according to DHL tracking, I am supposed to receive it today!!!

I just got the pictures of my dress from the seller. I'm super happy with the skirt! It's a replica of Rosa Clara 164 Rosal, and I noticed there are ribbons missing that are going along the seams around the bodice. I asked them if it's possible to add the ribbons. The seller is hua_yi_zhang (Denia's bridal). But even without the ribbons I am happy with the dress.

@Katya, I am checking your blog quite regularly and get a ton of inspiration from your photos. It was exciting to see Cayo Levantado wedding. Is the beach really "oh-so-crowded"? Even the very sides of it? I am sooo into barefoot ceremony on the beach, that I wouldn't like to give it up for a terrace even if the view is stunning...

missb0308, that's lovely! Congrats!

missb0308, what kind of model did you get? Can you give a link or post a pic of the original? When I was choosing my dress, my first selection was tea length taffeta dress (Mon Cheri 111176), but then I opted out for taffeta - personal choice - and got worried about all of these precise ruffles which could turn out ugly of not properly made. Glad to hear your experience is positive!

Thank you all! I also added step-by-step instructions in DIY forum: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/84119/y-diy-seashell-pearl-crystal-bouquet-and-bout-pic-heavy

I just finished my “hybrid†bouquet. It is seashell-pearl-crystal bouquet with some artificial tulips. That was my first DIY floral project and I’m quite happy with the outcome. I wanted a bouquet that would mean something to me, so I had almost no choice but “building†it myself. I wanted to have tulips as these are the flowers my FI got me on the day we first kissed. I loved seashell and pearl bouquets I’ve see on the web, so I decided to put it all together. And I like how the spiky greens and soft feathers create a texture contrast. Below are my step-by-step instructions. I’m not saying my method is the best and a correct one, but it worked for me! 1. Grow the stems Glue the stems to the seashells. Clean the seashells and let them dry. With a hot glue gun apply a drop of glue on the seashell and press the wire stem to it for a couple of seconds. I got a fairly large pack of seashells in Walmart and sorted out the lightest ones for my bouquet. I got the floral wire for the stems. Make sure your wire is thick and sturdy enough to hold the weight o the seashell. 2. Beading time Bead the pearls and crystals onto the gauge wire. I borrowed the technique and idea on the web: http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/pearl-bouquet-is-finally-finished I used 10mm pearls and crystals beading 5 of them on a wire. I think I used a 25 or 26 gauge wire, and it felt like the wire could have been a bit thicker. 3. Tape it, tape it, tape it! Once all of your items are prepared, assemble the bouquet. That’s where I got the most confused and didn’t know where to start with and how to move forward. I used the floral tape. It’s a bit tricky to work with, but after a couple of minutes you figure out how it “worksâ€. I started with 1 tulip and a couple of seashells and pearl stems as the center of my bouquet, then I was adding 3-5 stems at a time. Tape nearly every step to hold it tight. 4. Add some greens I used the leaves of my artificial tulips to put around the bouquet to a) give it a more finished look and hide the stems and to add some color and give it somewhat a feeling of a natural bouquet. I had to use hot glue gun there as it was the simplest way to hold it all together. And I used a string to tie it up to hold tight next to the “flowersâ€. 5. Wrap it up Cut the stems to equal length at the bottom and finish off the handle by wrapping a ribbon around it. Hot glue a 1-2 inch end of the ribbon to the bottom of the stems pointing the ribbon down along the stems. Then wrap it around the bouquet overlapping and randomly adding some hot glue. Add a final tough with a white ribbon, and voila – it’s ready! The boutonniere was a super-mini version of my bouquet. I will need to trim the edges of the ribbons to adjust the length and maybe I will stick in a couple of more feathers in the bouquet, but overall that’s pretty much a final look! Your feedback?

Well, I wanted to get as many opinions as possible. From current and ex-brides. I've got the same situation: we want a barefoot wedding on the beach. And that was one of the main reasons why we chose Cayo Levantado - a fairly small resort away from the main land with a private beach, as opposed to possibly crowded Bavaro beach in Punta Cana. We are planning on a small short ceremony, so I think it should turn out nice on the beach.