NJBride2014

Our budget is 15K so far we are sticking to it and coming under budget with some of our must haves. The number one budget buster is definitely our photography but that was a very important aspect of the wedding to us so we splurged. I hope we can stick to our budget in the next year.

Hi, just wanted to share the small gifts and cards we gave to our bridesmaids and groomsmen. They loved the extra thought and appreciated it. It was nice to personalize and make it special for each person.

Sorry this might be long. So I'm kind of on the same boat with an unresponsive friend except it's a friend I've known for almost 29 years. This friend lets call her "X" I've known since we were born and lived next door to each other. I'm always the one to go out of my way to see her or make plans and lately its more clear that our friendship is more me making an effort then her. We both got engaged around the same time and I took her out for her engagement and gave her a gift, for me I didn't even get a card. Anyway I got over that but when the wedding planning began she started first and I guess I always assumed we would be in each others wedding. Then she tells me she isn't having a wedding party which is fine I was a little upset but I understood and got over it. I on the other hand am having a wedding party and would like to have her be a bridesmaid. So every time I would bring up the bridesmaids or my wedding in general she always changed the subject or didn't really seam excited for me. Whenever she brings up her wedding I'm always supportive and give her my opinion I even went with her to pick out her wedding dress. She ended up going with the dress I loved the most on her. I'm just so confused about the way she is acting right now with me I would have never thought she would be this way towards my wedding. This past weekend I asked my 3 sisters and anther close friend not "X" to be my bridesmaids with cute gifts and cards and they all said yes and were excited. I have the card and gift for "X" but have yet to send it to her. "X" told the mutual friend who said yes to being a bridesmaid that she wasn't sure if she could be my bridesmaid as she doesn't even think she'll go to my wedding. This was a total surprise to me since I've been talking about a destination wedding for years and will be planning my wedding for almost 2. My wedding is still over a year away so its plenty of time to save for it. I guess whats bothering me the most is that when she first started planning her wedding she was thinking of doing it in Hawaii (we are from NJ) and I said to her tell me when and where and I'm there. I didn't get quite the same reaction when I said we were getting married in Cancun. I'm pretty sure she is going to say no so I'm not sure if I should even bother asking her to be a bridesmaid and that is upsetting me. Should I still send her the gift and card and leave it up to her? I just know how she is especially since her wedding is 2 months away I don't want to put more on her plate right now but I need to know how many girls I'm going to have so we can ask the groomsmen. She is notorious for changing the subject and ignoring things so I figured if I ask and she ignores me that's my answer and I will probably have to confront her about and reevaluate our relationship. I just don't want it to get to that point I thought this would be the easy part.

Wow it's almost here. Congrats and enjoy every moment!!

Congrats girls!! Borgesn you know what they say you can take the girl out of jersey but you can't take jersey out of the girl. lol Happy planning!!

Hi Linds2014! Nice to see another Leblanc bride on here. My fiance and I have been to Leblanc twice and loved it so much that we always said that when we get married it would definitely be there. The last time we went was in 2011 so I know some things have changed I can't wait to go on our site visit in October. Isn't the resort just so beautiful and relaxing?? I know what you mean about the group rates that defiantly was a stressful part when thinking about how much we were asking our guests to pay to come to our wedding. I ended up going with a TA for our group rates as they were a little better than what LeBlanc quoted us directly. I can't wait to visit again and plan all the little details. When you went on the site visit did you get to meet with your wedding coordinator, try any food or meet with any vendors? My fiance and I have so many ideas of how we want the wedding but I'm sure that can change at our site visit. Are you going with the complimentary package? We chose it for right now and might upgrade it later on but just wondering if you got to see what the complimentary package comes with. Well happy planning and look forward to exchanging ideas and information.

Hi fellow LeBlanc bride I know what you mean about the price. The room rate quotes for our guests were a little higher than I would have liked but we are giving everyone a year in to pay it off so hopefully that helps our guests. Have you been to LeBlanc before?? I've been twice and its amazing definitely a good choice for your wedding. Happy planning!

Congrats!! I'm excited to start the planning too.

I know it's been a while since anyone posted on this thread but I'm a Jersey bride getting married in 2014. Any NJ brides out there?? Let's try to get this thread going again.

I'm also using Wendy Hicks. We just put our deposit down for a room block and she has been great to work with. Now its time to order my save the dates and send them out soon

To ensure everyone knows how this works and so it runs smoothly please follow these easy steps Go to the last post of this thread and select "quote" on the last entry Type in your name & your OH name, your BDW Forum name, wedding date & location in chronological order of the listing Once dates are past the older months can then be deleted Brides (& grooms) can see who is getting married on dates close to them . It is handy too as some wedding parties have shared the cost of some vendors (photographers in particular) Good luck ~ ~ ~ JULY 2013 Laura (Laurab1105) July 22 - Gran Bahia Principe Akumal, Mayan Riveria (sarahcox) 23 July - Gran Bahia Principe Tulum, Mayan Riveria AUGUST 2013 Samantha and Barry August 5 - Iberostar Maya Riviera Maya Mexico Katryne August 6 - Grand Bahia Principe Coba, Mayan Riviera Lauren and Tyrel August 19 - Grand Palladium White Sand, Riviera Maya, Mexico Cameshia & Patrick (Mimi127) August 24 - Secrets Wild Orchid, Montego Bay Heather & Jonathan (missde09) August 24 - Majestic Colonial, Punta Cana Chiquita & Eric August 27th- Beach Palace, Cancun, Mexico SEPTEMBER 2013 Taryn & Stephen (tarynm) September 1- Azul Beach, Puerto Morelos, Riviera Maya OCTOBER 2013 Melanie & Jesse (favorsmr) October 5-Dreams Resort & Spa, Punta Cana, DR Philippa & Simon (ladystardust) October 8 - Moon Palace Golf & Spa Donna & Brett (dondon84) October 11 - Moon Palace golf & spa Resort, Cancun Louise & Steve - (FutureMrsCorney) October 16 - Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort, Cancun Greg and Yvonne (Red 400) October 19 -Sunset da mona lisa or le reve NOVEMBER 2013 Paisley & Philip (2bmrstremblay) November 3 – Aboard the Carnival Magic, Galveston Texas, 7 Day Caribbean Cruise Shannon & Dennis - November 9, 2013 - Riu Palace Riviera Maya, Playe del Carmen MTRowse – November 11 - Bahia Principe Coba Sarah & Richard (futuremrswarner) November 12 - Bahia Principe Tulum Riviera Maya Pascale & Eric (Papoue) November 13 - Iberostar Rose Hall Beach, Montego Bay, Jamaica Ashley & Matthew (acote26) November 13 - Gran Bahia Principe Akumal, Riviera Maya WorstBride – November 19 - Bahia Principe Akumal DinaQtobe November 21 - Now Sapphire, Riviera MayaWilliam & Tanya November 23 - Jamaica Holly86 November 26 - Gran Bahia Principe Akumal Beach Location - Poolside Reception J1031 - November 27 - Gran Bahia Principe Tulum Gazebo - Poolside Reception Michelle & Carlos - November 27 - Gran Caribe Real Cancun - Oceanfront Villa DECEMBER 2013 Alexis & Alexander (islandsunriseSa) December 14 - Atlantis Resort Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas JANUARY 2014 Liz & Jay (lgerry) January 15 - Grand Bahia Principe Akumal, Riviera Maya, Mexico Tara & Michael (TaraB) January 24 - Now Sapphire - Riviera Maya, Mexico Sara & Darryl (sarakelz) January 30- Grand Bahia Principe Coba, Riviera Maya, Mexico FEBRUARY 2014 Cherina and Michael (Cherina) February 14 - Moon Dance Villas- Negril, Jamaica - Our Reaffirmation Wedding will take place on our 14th marriage anniversary Ashley and Chris (ABCDWedding) February 2014 - Cancun Mexico Dawn and Mike (DiggityDawn) February 14 @ 1:00pm - Barcelo Maya Beach Resorts (Tropical/Colonial) Riviera Maya, Mexico MARCH 2014 Kerri and John (Kerriann5) March 8 - Hard Rock Hotel- Punta Cana APRIL 2014 Backy and Daniel Sandals Montego Bay Jamaica april 2014 Leanne & Robin (leanne1) April 2 2014 - Gran Bahia Principe Tulum Ashleigh and Richard Mallett (ashleighb) 23rd April - Gran Bahia Principe Riviera Maya Mexico MAY 2014 Jacqueline & Mark (DWBride2014) May 2 - Playacar Palace Beth & Jorge (HoyaBeth) May 10 - Be Tulum Ashley Delesline & Steven Campbell (HisFutureMrs) May 16 2014 Gran Bahia Principe Akumal Sharon & Ron (sbowie) May 17 - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino or Dreams Palm Beach - Punta Cana, DR Stacey & Jimmy (jburress21). May 21 - Beaches Turks and Caicos Amanda & Don (Shmanderz) May 10, 2014 - Beach Palace Cancun JUNE 2014 Darlene & Daniel (darball16) June 6th, 2014 Excellence Playa Mujeres Jessica & Jesus (jessica correa) June 28, 2014 ~ RIU Ocho Rios Jamaica! JULY 2014 Zoe & Alex (zoen) July 19 ~ Dana Villas ~ Santorini, Greece Jeanette & Jay (jenvens7) July 7 - Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico AUGUST 2014 Sobe & Phil ~ August 22nd ~Playacar Palace or Moon Palace SEPTEMBER 2014 Sandy & David (NJBride2014) ~ September 13 ~ LeBlanc Spa and Resort ~ Cancun, Mexico Jenny & Amir (Jenny2014) ~ September 18 ~ Dreams Resort and Spa ~ Puerto Vallarta DECEMBER 2014 Serife & Buddy (snorfle1) December 13th, 2014~ Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton in Jamaica Jennifer & Drew (jenferrara) December 13th, 2014~ Excellence Playa Mujeres in Cancun, Mexico

and congrats on your engagement SimplyMV. My future MIL isn't too thrilled about the idea either because she thinks that a lot of my fiance's family won't be able to afford it but we are giving them more than a year to pay for it. It does kind of hurt your feelings when they aren't as excited as you are but I think just do what is right for you and your fiance and hopefully they will come around. Like you said stay positive and enjoy this time. Good luck on your planning.

Gorgeous ring and so unique.

Gorgeous ring and so unique.

Here is my ring. My fiance bought the cushion 1 karat diamond separate and had the ring made. It's a total of 1.6 karats and I love it. He did such a great job. He was more into the making sure he got the best ring and quality than I was. lol We recently ordered our bands and I can't wait to get it. It's an eternity band and fits perfectly with my e-ring.

Hi everyone I'm a newbie here and here goes my engagement story. My fiance and I have known each other since we were 10 years old. We went to elementary, middle and high school together but were not really that close of friends since we didn't really run in the same crowd but we did know and each other and had mutual friends. The funny thing is we actually didn't really become better acquainted until our senior year and we actually rode in the same car to prom together. My then boyfriend was really good friends with my now fiance and I didn't know he was going to give him and his date a ride to the prom with us. So technically we went to the prom together just not as dates lol. We kind of get a kick of the story because we have pictures of all four of us at prom just with different dates. Then we graduated and we went off to different colleges and didn't speak for like 2 years. On summer break from college we bumped into each other at a local bar and started talking again and kept in touch via facebook and the big thing at the time AOL chat. I didn't really think it was going to go anywhere since his was in PA and I was in NYC but whenever we came home for holidays and college breaks we would spend all of our time together. Then on my 21st birthday I had a big party at my house and he came. It was the day before he was supposed to go back to college for his senior year and I was surprised he even made it to my party since he had to pack and get ready for his long drive back to school. He came and said he just wanted to say Happy birthday and that he was staying a couple minutes but he ended up being the last leave and stayed all night. After everyone left he stayed behind and we just spoke for hours at this point we weren't really officially anything just good Friends. This was when he finally went in for the kill and we had our first kiss. We were pretty official after that. We have been together ever since which is now almost 8 years and will be 9 years when we finally get married in 2014. So my birthday is always special to us because that's when it all started. I knew I wanted to marry him for a long time but life got in the way and we wanted to get to a place where we were sure this was what we both wanted and we were ready. So it finally happened on 12/20/12 the day before the supposed Mayan end of the world. I think he wanted to make sure if it did end he had his chance to propose first lol. The proposal happened in NYC our favorite place around Christmas time. Every year we make a trip to NYC to see the tree, the lights and to have dinner. On our first Christmas together we went to see the tree and had a professional picture taken in front of the tree and we have that picture framed in our apartment. So we went this Christmas it was just like every other time we went. We stopped to see the tree and looked at the lights and I thought we would go on our way to dinner. Then my fiance suggested we take another professional picture in front of the tree I was not too excited about it since we already have one and I kind of just wanted to get away from the crowd and go on to dinner. I actually didn't even feel good that day since my office Christmas party was the night before and I might have had to much to drink.. and was a little hungover. I actually almost called off the trip into the city all together but he insisted we go because of what he had planned. Back to the story he convinced me to get an updated picture since the other one we took was when we first started dating so I finally gave in and we got on line. The line was long so my poor fiance was suffering in silence as we inched closer to our turn. Finally we get in front of the tree and as the photographer is adjusting us for our picture I look down and my fiance is on his knees and I'm so shocked that I don't know what to think. Then I realize he has a box and he asks if would marry him. I just started bawling like a baby and then he started to cry. The photographer realized whats going on and he started to snap all these pictures. Then everyone around us at Rockefeller center sees whats going on and they start clapping and cheering and taking pictures. It was such an amazing moment and unexpected and we have it all caught on camera which was my fiance's plan. I couldn't believe that he pulled it off without me knowing anything I'm usually really good at reading him but he held this secret in for months which is hard to do since we live together. After the proposal we had dinner at Serendipity and if you've seen the movie before we were sat right in same spot as the characters in the movie. It was a great end to our day everything was perfect. Now we are on to wedding planning and I can't wait to get started.