nadiakat17

I can't really find much info online about it. I consider myself an animal lover (though now I do eat meat) and don't really want to buy anything that was harvested shadily- does anyone know if they are legit plucked off the beach after death or something along those lines? Anyone have a good website for faux starfish? If I did buy real ones, did people have problems getting them through customs? thanks

I bought my dress a while ago. I really fell in love with it, and it was also in my price range. It is gorgeous, but the underlay is some kind of satin material. After just standing 15 mins in it last night, my legs were sweaty. Now i am worried about staying all night in this.. I guess I could change, but i was really hoping to just keep my dress on. I don't know how hot I will get! Anyone else struggling with this?

what made you buy maracas now instead of in Mexico? I am trying to decide, because I would reallly like to cut down on stuff!

@@acw271011 the way I look at it, it is up to each couple to celebrate their day in the way they want it. It is whatever it means to them. For example, in my family, we celebrate Christmas Eve really big and Christmas Day is like eh. That is our personal choice and what works for us. For me, the legal "ceremony" (which will just be me and him signing certificates on our couch with our minister friend) is all business/paperwork. The wedding is going to be when I go to the place I picked out with my friends and family, in my white dress and say my vows. That is the only date sticking out in my mind- the date that I am plastering on all my DIY stuff haha. Maybe we will chuckle at that legal day "anniversary" in passing before we celebrate our real anniversary. Most likely, it will just fade away just how I don't remember the date I signed papers to get my driver's license. In the end, I know that my FI and I and our families will honor our special day in the way we would like

ah makes sense, then by all means, I would get the fans you are talking about. I think they will be cool. I only want raffia because I want to attach a program

An opinion is one thing, but to come on a forum and call people's weddings (which they have spent so much time and money and heart on) a "vow renewal" is undoubtedly offensive to a lot of people on this forum. I have posted opinions that go against the grain on some of these topics (I am in the minority about wanting to have a registry) but have voiced my thoughts in a way that I feel is respectful, and people have disagreed in a way that I found respectful. Some of us actually may feel guilt because of family members/friends that have opinions like yours. It's human nature. It really causes unnecessary stress. So that is why we come on this forum, to have a place to come to for support and ideas. A legal marriage is important, as that is what is recognized here for many different things. But I am only doing that part because I have to, for taxes, for medical decision making, etc. Hence why I am signing the paperwork before I come down. Which is important for gay people as well and is why I support their rights wholeheartedly. I would love that they would have a choice to separate their legal and symbolic marriages like I do. And if a gay couple considered themselves married without actually having paperwork, I would consider them married as well. If a person has a courthouse wedding and that is the only wedding they will have, then that's their wedding. The point we are trying to make is it is not up to you to determine what a marriage/wedding means to another person. It's such a personal decision. And the reason people are getting defensive is the same reason lots of people (over thousands of years) get upset when they feel like their key beliefs are being challenged. This just makes me even more sound in my decision.

hmm oh wow I didn't realize they take up so much space- i just figured they were flat. But I can see how 45 will be a lot- But i fell in love with the idea on here! I think a paper fan would be fine! At my friends recent wedding they had a cardboard-ish program on a big "popsicle stick" and I really appreciated it because it was so hot out! Have you ever thought about making those? I can't figure out now how to post a picture!

Hmm, can you ask your mom and stepdad what they think? That would be my first move. If not, I would probably invite them, just because. But if you are really tight with the budget and your mom and stepdad don't seem to care, it probably wouldn't matter. It sounds like they would likely not come anyway? maybe you could bank on that and just send them a courtesy invite.

Totally agree with you @@kmk2016. First of all, a lot of marriages in other countries, including Mexico, have a civil ceremony and a "religious" ceremony, some that don't even happen on the same day. Some people choose to get married legally beforehand for a variety of important reasons such as citizenship, insurance, deployment etc. Some people, most on this forum, choose it due to ease and cost difference (which would add up to probably over a thousand dollars) and also - for me this is most important- due to concern that these marriage documents may not hold up or transfer easily back to their home country and concern over having a blood test in another country. I was actually on the knot's forum today for some reason and unfortunately chose to open the post about legal before symbolic marriage, and was honestly pretty disgusted by some of the responses, saying that it is all a big lie, that guests would be outraged, and that it is a PPD (pretty princess day) and everyone is a "special snowflake". Since when does everyone get to weigh in on someone's wedding day? Who are they to judge why someone is choosing to have it a certain way? I would hope my family and friends would not think of it this way. These are the people that love me most and support my decisions. Besides, how many weddings have you gone to in the states/canada where you actually see the couple sign a marriage certificate? I actually have never seen it. Actually, at the last wedding I went to, I was talking to the groom at the end of the night about the process to get legally married at a wedding ceremony in the states and he said that they were so caught up in the day that they hadn't actually signed the certificate yet and would in the morning. So at the reception, they technically weren't "legally" married! But I did not feel lied to, I was celebrating their love, and am wishing them the best in their lives together! I just feel that (including a lot of today's politics that I won't get into), people should generally let people make decisions that make them happy that are not harming others. Maybe not to you, but to me, I am just signing paperwork and the real wedding is when I make my vows to my husband in front of the people I love most in the world. Weddings are about celebration, a party, a gathering of family/friends, not about the documents. The day I walk down the aisle is the moment when I will be married.

I am planning to print my own iron on transfers for my OOT bags... So I designed my own using images online and wording- I have it so one of the pictures has a white background so only the image pops and its background fades into the white page where I typed other words- when I print it, will all the other words print out and the white background of the picture show, or will it somehow look exactly how I have it on my screen? I am printing it on a canvas bag, so I dont want a big white square around my image. any advice from people who printed their own ?

cheaptotes.com has canvas totes for 89 cents. I may plan to try to print out iron on transfers for them and have really cheap bags!

besides sparklers or fireworks I am not sure what else you can do.....

@@Lia33 Haha a Jack and Jill is basically like a combined bachelor/bachelorette party- essentially it is just going out celebrating the impending marriage . Of course I love a good girls night but I feel like if we were both going to do it in Mexico, why wouldn't we just do it together? Most of my friends coming are in serious relationships/married, so it makes sense that we would all just go out together- plus their significant others are my good friends too! I personally feel like I don't really need a huge traditional bachelorette party- if we only have possibly one night to go out in PV (since my resort is like 30 mins away) I would rather we all have a crazy big time. If I end up having something small here where some of my girl friends could go that would be nice, but at least in Mexico I know everyone will be there! And as I said, us girls could always shop or go to the spa and guys could golf or something while we are there.

This is all true, where there are some people that have legit reasons to have to wait, most who are wavering could make a decision in advance. The way we are "booking" people is a bit different than most people in this forum, since we are doing it through our family timeshare. Basically we have had to put down the full amount of the rooms a year in advance, but have up til a month before the wedding to cancel for a small fee. So weve collected money from a lot of people, we actually put the money down on the friends that were committed and I guess now we should start collecting it back lol

@@calgarybride2015, I'm jealous! Mine doesn't come with any decorations and I need to pay separately. ugh. I wonder how much stuff like arch flowers goes for?

i was just going to budget like 1.5 hours since its not like we are traveling anywhere, we will be on the beach. I wanted to get some group shots, some extended family shots, some friends shots, and then immediate family, bridal party, and bride and groom. I figure all the shots will take like 30 mins, then like 30 mins for bridal party and fam and like 30 mins for us.

@@Lia33 weve thought about doing our bacherlorette/bachelor parties in Mexico....all our friends are very spread out and we are living in a city away from our hometown. At that point, I think we might want to do a "jack and jill" party where we all just go out as one big group together in town. I think that would be more fun than trying to seperate the groups. I know the guys wanted to go golfing at one point and the girls wanted to go to the spa there as well. And maybe we will do something small here in the states, but it would be fun to go all out at least one night in Mexico

thanks tygrrlily, lll check it out!

nuevo vallarta,,,hmmm good to know

What are you doing, if anything, for either/both of these? What is your budget for this? I would like to do both, but not sure if we could swing the costs for all the people. Especially if we plan to do a catamaran. But I like the idea of doing a bunch of "events" during the week. I was looking for a way to maybe do a lower budget version.

Is there any way to pay in advance for what you would cover or ask the place to make you up a ticket that you paid for they could use? And then let guests know to pay for anything outside of what you want to cover? Or make up your own tickets and give money to the place and explain what you'll be doing. Or even write in your welcome dinner info sheet that you plan to cover x$ per guest which would include x,y,z and anything else they would be responsible for? Or I would even tell them you can get a drink, chicken or fish, and a side and don't even give them other options ....while that is very generous of you, I think it just looks weird to hand out cash envelopes...but in the end, what does it matter? lol

lol @@calgarybride2015 what sample packs?

how do you guys get people to commit so far in advance? My wedding is in March and I have people say they still dont know their job situation/funds/schedule yet!

@tygrrlily- how did u make welcome letters, doorknob hangers, itineries....i couldn't find templates. Any other vistaprint ideas ladies...i bought 2 groupons (well my FI bought one) all excited but then i was like wait, i can find better deals on totes, koozies, etc, what am i going to use this for!

it's funny, I love how this forum is so supportive. I went on another forum- can't remember which- but there was a DW posting about legal marriage at home vs other country and these ladies were going nuts about it- saying it's tacky, rude, can't call it a wedding, can't do first dance, cake, etc....the majority of posts were like that- I started freaking out but realized these people don't know what they are talking about and I would do what was important to my FI and I- it is more important to us to not stress out, make sure our paperwork is all in a row, and not pay a lot of money than have it legal for legality's sake. To me a wedding is all about fun, family, friends, and celebrating each other and the paperwork is just that...paperwork. I would hope my friends and family would be supportive even if maybe they don't "agree" with what I'm doing- in the end it shouldn't matter to them!