nadiakat17

I am making my own using cards and pockets website

if you are having more than a manageable group of people, I would try to arrange a deal with a local restaurant for a meal package- like 50$ for dinner and drinks. I would then include that in my RSVP saying dinner at X restaurant, optional following ceremony, 50$. That way you can get a head count and they will know how much to pay. I would also skip the favors - no point wasting money on that.

going to a destination wedding recently really solidified my decision to have a very small bridal party. I had been up in the air before, but seeing the process of a normal sized bridal party seemed so taxing. For one, it took ALL DAY for everyone to complete hair and makeup and that was pushing it. Also, I feel like with the bridal party obligations, the bridesmaids that were only at the destination for a few days seemed to really miss out on the fun and the signifcant others were left alone. I also thought it seemed exclusive- not too many other friends had come and we would have all liked to spend more time with the rest of the bridal party and to watch them get ready (the bride invited us, but I was the only nonbridesmaid that came to watch the get ready process and although I liked seeing her, I did feel kind of in the way and an outlier). Not to mention the cost of the hair, makeup, dresses (if you pay yourself), lunch, bouquets, thank you gifts. So now I very much satisfied to keep it to a few people total.

no i didnt, still working on this one, its been a busy few weeks so finally got around to emailing her to start a discussion on the budget

i think they would...i cant see why not? I have brought food in all the time, as long as it it something like candy and not produce or meat

In my experience with talking to other destination brides that I know, it seems like it is the norm to send out the STDs about a year in advance and the invites like 5-6 months in advance, with RSVPs due at 3, 3 1/2 months out. This is what I've noticed for the US though (and what I am planning on), I feel like the Canadian brides from what I've seen here get good deals and have people RSVP and book a lot earlier. Also, since I am doing this through my time share, we had to get the full amount of room money basically as soon as we set the wedding date (this was to ensure the best rooms, but we could get them more standard rooms at a later date), which was stressful. So I have a decent idea of who is coming (although they can cancel a month before and get all their $ back minus 50 bucks). Haha, I had to put down a few of my friends' money, and I need to work on collecting that back, that was a ton of money! The problem with my timeline is that a. still working on solidifying the place, so I can't make invites yet, and b, I guess by due date would be right around Christmas. So I am hoping everything gets worked out the next few weeks, I will make and send invites and get them out by Nov, with the RSVP date being Dec 15- giving me just over 3 mo to start on all the details. Ugh I have lost motivation, work has been so busy. I am actually leaving Sat though for a destination wedding in Aruba, I should post my opinions when I get back, I am sure I will learn a lot of what I want to do/not do

yeah @@calgarybride2015, I wanted to set up wedding pics from our parents and grandparents, but his divorced, so I dont know haha. I think Ill ask his mom what she thinks. My special touches are a memory charm on my bouquet of my grandparents, and a memory chair for them. I am going to wear my grandmas earrings. I think a slideshow would be cool, I may just play it running on a computer during our welcome party in our suite. At the tables, I plan to have some black and white photos of us - with each table featuring a certain place we have traveled together. Since my FI and are are big readers, I plan to do a few readings from classic books or poetry.

@kcole2 whats the site for the second orchids...they are awesome, I might want to buy some!

You could compromise....I decided to just have my SIL, brother, BIL, and best friend in our wedding- otherwise we would be picking between all our other friends and i feel it cuts down on cost. Ill still have some pics with my gfs, and have them come get ready with me!

we got my FIs on amazon- tungsten ( i dont know if its real or not?) but it was 20$ and feels really nice and heavy, just like the really expensive ones weve tried on- i say win! if he ends up hating it we can always figure something else out.

I have no idea what to get them. They are helping to pay for my wedding, so I feel like I should definitely do something. I dont know whether to get them an "experience" which could be there or something thanking them when we get back to the states...or I could do something sentimental or just a nice gift but I have no idea what I would get them- something together or separate, and also I feel maybe we should get my FI parents a little something, they are exerting a lot of effot to pay for his immediate family to be able to come, and also paying for the rehearsal dinner.

@chelseapaige37- what company did you book through? how many people? and how long is the charter?

thanks for the ideas everyone! of course this would all happen when I have tons of stuff going on at work and going to my friends own destination wedding!

@@chelseapaige37, ugh I think those were old prices and I can't even find the site anymore. back to the drawing board!

Hi everyone, I had some LC questions: is there anyway to start the ceremony earlier? I heard that there is little time for pictures Did you feel like the reception time was too short? did you add an extra hour? What about elderly guests/kids? what did you do if it got late? is there a way for them to get back earlier? Could you bring any of your DIY stuff? What was the fee? Was the price for extras worth it? overall, what was your wedding experience? would you do it again?

I'm pricing it out tonight....and weighing the pros and cons of the venues

if you want decent quality fakes, you are looking at around 300$ for a bridal bouquet, 2 bridesmaids, like 3 bouts, 2 corsages, and some hair flowers

march 27 2015

thanks everyone! @@calgarybride2015 that is exactly right! i understand that they want to make up lost revenue but that is nuts....it makes no sense. i am doing some serious reconsidering this week.

I am thinking now at this point it is too little too late even if we are able to reduce the cost....i wonder how this will all work out!

lol i am actually looking at that now! i am scared they wont have my date! never hurts to ask though...

I am so frustrated! Basically my family owns a time share at the Mayan Palace resort so it seemed like a no brainer to have my wedding there. We get a great deal on rooms and have basically the nicest package so the rooms are just to die for and i love the resort. Always had an amazing time when I stayed. I did not even research anything else because I figured everything was comparable and I set the date so fast in order to get the time off work by my deadline. Now, things are just getting ridiculous. I already thought the prices were steep for dinner, the ceremony etc, for what little you get but they weren't outrageous. Then I started getting into more detail about the extra prices for everything. What really set me off is- for example- i wanted to do a simple centerpiece of some fake flowers, a lantern, maybe a candle and a picture---would cost me like max 40$ per table to buy these and bring with. The charge per table for JUST the centerpiece- and mind you they are "legally unable" to set these up themselves so my friends would have to do it--is roughly 250 US dollars PER TABLE! like almost 10 x the cost of the thing! plus they said like 150$ per chair to hang something on it!!!! THAT IS INSANE! I am just freaking out because part of the point was to save money. I also want a decent looking wedding that was in my head. I see so many brides here with nice packages that are so reasonable. My mom is going to start emailing/calling the people she knows at the resort tomorrow through this week. But I am really looking into other venues. I dont know what will be available 7 mo in advance (i really do want to stay at our resort, and some guests are already booked so I cant change the date by more than a day or two). I am willing to lose the 500$ deposit if we cant figure this out (that is only 2 tables setup btw!) . I am just so stressed! anyone else been in any kind of similar situation or have any advice?

Hi, unfortunately I am not sure if the wedding at my current resort is going to work out. We still want to stay there, but the prices they are quoting are outrageous. What are some options in the PV area that aren't attached to a resort so we could travel there? my wedding is supposed to be in 6-7 months so i really need to start emailing asap if my current venue isn't cutting it!

This sounds very familiar to a situation I went through...best friends for 20 years but more and more becoming more distant and leading other lives. I could handle it, and just hanging out occasionally, but she seemed to want to be clingy best friends or nothing. As time went on, I became increasingly more anxious interacting with her because she was always blowing up about random things and making things awkward. It was clear the friendship was unhealthy but I kept in contact since we had been so close for so long. When I got engaged, I felt like I had to call her even though we had not talked (besides texts/FB) in so long. She didn't seem happy for me. Eventually when it came out I was having a destination wedding she wrote a long email hoping that she could be come/be in it. At that time it was too little too late, and I was struggling with even just inviting her as she had a falling out with my close group of friends- none of them wanted to spend an intimate week with her. So after responding to her email, the next day I was unfriended from facebook. And we haven't talked since (the first day I was so beat up about it but then I realized I was so much better off) Anyways, realize that your "friend" obviously has issues of her own and it had nothing to do with you- that is what took me years to understand. She will have to live with knowing that she let you down. And now you have makeup money!