cruisebride2016

@, @@ashhtayy, @@krystalball, @deecol- Yes, my celebrations were fun! All my friends are married with kids, so they decided to leave out the male entertainment. I was completely OK with that.Thanks for the compliments on my outfits! The paint nite was actually easier than I expected. They walk you through step by step. And, the tropical picture was by chance, but was very appropriate! I can't believe how fast it is coming. We will be leaving for Fort Lauderdale in 1 month from today! My flowers arrived and they look great! Here is my bouquet: Here is the groom's boutonniere:

@@ashhtayy Guestbook map looks great!

I have been celebrating lately and it has been so much fun!! I had my bridal shower 2 weeks ago. It was in the barrel room of a winery. It was wonderful to catch up with friends and family, especially since at least half of them are not coming to the wedding. Last night, I had my Bachelorette Party. We started at a hotel and played games. I really enjoyed the one where the girls wrote down their favorite memory of us together and I had to guess who it was. The game lead to going into details about the memories, which was fun to go down memory lane! After that, we went to a paint nite where you paint and drink wine. I am not an artist, so the wine definitely made it easy to not be a perfectionist! Then, we went to dinner and finished the night with drinks and dancing at a club. I had a great night!!

@ Thank you for recommending Stemple Shop/Nathan to @@ashhtayy so that she could then suggest it to me! This is a wonderful example of what makes this website so helpful! It would have been unlikely for me to come across this vendor without your recommendations. Thank you!

Welcome!! We are going to Asia for our honeymoon. We will spend some time on our own, then we will spend the rest of a Royal Caribbean cruise.

@@ashhtayy I got a notification that the flowers shipped today. Can't wait!! Thank you so much for the suggestion of Nathan. He was so much easier to work with than the previous person. And, I know the real touch flowers are going to look so much better than the silk ones I was considering. They were more expensive, but I think they will be worth it! @@deecol Thank you!! It is crazy how limited the packages are from the coordinators. We have been able to get her to substitute some things, but not others. We substituted an upgraded arch for the flowers that we won't use.

@@ashhtayy Thanks for checking in!! Planning is going well. I have totally slacked on updating though. I ended up going with Nathan because I didn't like the 40% increase for customization for the other seller since they were silk flowers. We just paid our final payment yesterday, so our flowers should be shipped soon. I think they look wonderful in the pictures, so I am really excited to see them in person!! We ordered a 9" bridal bouquet, groom's boutonniere, and a corsage: Here are more views of the bridal bouquet:

@@Rhonda3839 Have you come up with any ideas for a honeymoon?

@ashhtayy- For the guestbook, what about different icons for each city? For example, a wedding ring in Mexico and a house for one of the others.

We are going to Asia for our honeymoon in June 2016 We are starting by flying into Toyko for a few days, then we will fly to Singapore. After a day there, we will get on a Royal Caribbean cruise that will go to Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, South Korea, and a few stops in China. At the end, we will get off the cruise and spend a few days exploring Beijing before returning home. We think a cruise is going to be a great way to explore this area. The ship will move us from one area to another without having to pack and take a train or plane to get to the next city. Also, we can experiment with food for lunch, but guarantee we will have "safe" foods for dinner on the cruise ship.

@@slfavors I am so sorry that I hadn't seen this message before! My photographer is the daughter of an acquaintance. I was talking with the acquantaince about the wedding and they mentioned their daughter is a wedding photographer. I jokingly asked if she was available in April 2016. The acquantaince gave me her contact info. I did some research on her and thought she could work well for what we needed. I had a meeting with the photographer and we hit it off well. We are paying for her flight and half the price for a hotel room and cruise cabin since she is bringing her husband and he will pay the other half. She will photograph the entire week, so it was worth it to us to pay her travel costs. I was nervous about hiring a photographer on the cruise ship or in Jamaica and being disappointed by the quality of their work. Our final payment was due January 26th, so we have our final guest count. We were waiting for that before ordering too much for the guests. It is good that we did because we had 6 people cancel in the last few weeks before final payment. We plan to do OOT bags- 1 per couple or person traveling alone. Yesterday, we ordered the bags from totebagfactory.com. We got the Polyester Beach Tote Bags with Zipper in White and Royal for $2.93 (we ordered more than 12). We are in the process of buying the items to go into the bags and I agree, it is fun to shop We got passport holders and are making an information booklet that looks like a passport that we are sending to our booked guests. I would like to do something for the first day that will show that we are part of the same group. I am not sure if everyone in the group would be willing to wear matching shirts. Do you have any ideas?

@@yycbride2016 @@Wafflesmom @@vancouverpetunia @@deecol Thank you for the support on my success last week! @@vanessajfelice Welcome to the group. You have a great plan outlined for weight loss with weight watchers and exercising. Keep us updated on your progress. @@calgarybride2015 It usually takes me at least 2 weeks after a trip to get back on track. Good job of getting the food back on track, now you can just focus on how to get your exercise plan back on track.

Well, some parts of a destination wedding are easier, but some parts are not! This week I have been going back and forth with the wedding coordinator in Jamaica and haggling over every little price, even down to the "guest" count for the ceremony set-up fee including the bride and groom and photographers. We have 25 guests, 2 photographers and the bride and groom. Our package includes 10 people free, then $30 per person beyond that. I expected the additional cost to only be for 15 people since they do not need to "set-up" anything for the bride and groom or photographers. But, the coordinator states that any person at the venue is charged for, even the bride and groom. I asked why we have to pay for our photographer as a guest, but if we had hired their photographer, they would they would not be considered a guest. The coordinators response was pretty much anyone who we bring to the venue is considered a "guest." I finally decided to take a different approach with the coordinator and explain to her that we are only doing a symbolic ceremony, but the package automatically includes license fees and legal document processing. Also, the package includes transportation if the location is within a certain distance, but since our venue is further away we still have to pay for transportation (with no discount taken off for the value that is part of the package). Therefore, I said she can charge for the bride and groom as a "guest", but we would like a decrease in the price somewhere else since we are not utilizing all the features of the package, but being charged extra costs for other things. We will see what she has to say about that.

@acw271011@shanay0321@ashhtayy Thanks for your feedback!! I decided to go for it. I ordered personalized cufflinks that I will give to my groom as his gift on the wedding day. I think he will love them

I am considering ordering something from Zazzle. Right now, they have a 15% discount. Do they frequently have discounts? Is this a good discount or should I wait until later for a better deal?

@@ashhtayy Mystery is solved for Bloom Bridals. I got an email today saying that she is out on maternity leave and will not be taking any orders until August 2016. I have been working with Lily of Angeles, but am getting a little frustrated. Each time I ask about making a change, the price goes up. Also, I asked to make mother corsages and she said she could do it the way I was asking, then 3 days later when I gave her the colors I wanted, she said she could no longer do it (even though it was the same as I initially requested). So, I have contacted Nathan at Stemple Shop to see if he would be able to create what I am looking for at a reasonable price. Thanks for the suggestion!!

I had a very successful week of being back on track and it paid off...I lost 5 pounds!! I have tracked on MFP for 9 days straight, stuck to my calories majoriy of the days, and worked out 4 times. I should be able to keep it up this week since my finace is still out of town. I just hope I can keep it up after he returns next weekend!!

@@calgarybride2015 We decided to switch the order, but our saying will be "On land or sea...anchored forever" I think it fits our cruise wedding very well!! @@Wafflesmom Yes, we were very excited about the deal for the flights!! Updates: Our final payment (or chance to cancel without losing any money) is January 26th. The travel agent is in charge of collecting all the money. She told me she has updated everyones profiles with birthdays and legal names, therefore she has been in contact with everyone. She has told the guests the final payment is due this week so that gives a cushion if anyone is late in paying. I hope all of it goes smoothly. And, I hope we don't have any other cancellations. There is one friend on the fence because she can't find childcare. We had asked for no children, but I really want her to come therefore we broke down and said she could bring her kids on the cruise, but they would need to go to the daycare during the wedding. So, we will see what she decides. My best friend is going to be throwing my bridal shower (we don't have a bridal party, so I don't have a MOH). We hung out last night and started planning it We decided to "go big" and have it at a venue (restaurant or winery). Since most of the guests who will be coming to the bridal shower will not be coming to the wedding, the bridal shower is their only oppprtunity to celebrate with me. Once her and I decide on the venue, I think the rest will probably be a surprise to me. Since the bridal shower planning is in process, it made me realize it is time for us to register. We have been considering doing a Honeyfund. But, for the shower, I think it will also be important to register at places people can get gifts, such as Macys and Target. I look forward to going "shopping" and registering!

@slfavor Congratulations!! You have a great number of guests. We are getting married in April and we have 23 guests. We are bringing a photographer (and her husband is paying his own way) along with us to take pictures the entire week. If you are taking pictures in St. Thomas, you are going to get dressed up in your wedding dress on two different days? Where does your cruise go? Did you book through a travel agent or on your own? Since you are getting married on the ship, you are probably working with the cruise wedding coordinators, right? We are not working with them at all. We are getting married in Jamaica, so we are using a wedding coordinator there. I hope we can be there to support each other through this process!!

It is feeling even more real!! We booked our flights for the wedding today We had been looking at flights over the weekend and had narrowed it down, but we were still trying to decide between a few options. We were talking about the flights during the day today, so I happened to look at the price on the flights and the price had dropped significantly on one of the options we were considered, so we jumped on it and just booked it. We are so happy we caught the deal!!

@Wafflesmom- I love the idea of framing the lyrics. We came across a song that is very fitting for us, but I doubt anyone will have heard of it before. So, putting up the lyrics would be a great way to share the song with our guests! The ring box looks like a great way to hold and display the rings. And, the table numbers came out wonderful. Using the pictures with waffles is a very cute idea!

@@deecol Yes, time is flying!! Before you know it, you will be at the 100 day mark, then we will blink again and it will be our weddings!! Even though it feels like time is flying, I am happy with how everything is coming along. I put together a to do list of what we have left to do and broke it up into which month we need to do it. There is almost 60 things on the list, I can't believe it. I thought we had the majority of things...although maybe it is still "majority" because I don't know how many things were on the list in the beginning.

@@deecol Well, I guess he likes it That is great!

@@calgarybride2015 Thanks for the positive comments!! Now, we are 100 DAYS UNTIL THE WEDDING. I can't believe that we are getting so close and I know it will be here before we know it!! I got a call from a friend this weekend and she has to cancel because she is pregnant and will be too far along to go on the cruise. Sadly, she is the 5th couple who will not be able to make it due to pregnancy (either will be pregnant or have a small baby at the time of the cruise). We knew having a cruise would limit the guests, so we are not disappointed that these friends can't make it. The final payment is due January 26th, so people would lose money if they cancel after that. We will see if we have any other cancellations before then. I have been communicating with Lily of Angeles about the flowers. Unfortunately, in order to make the changes I want, she is charging me a 40% customization fee. But, I would rather pay the fee and have exactly what I want! We have started making reservations for our honeymoon We already booked a 15 night cruise in Asia for June. Last night, we booked hotels for before and after the cruise. Next step is booking our flights to the cruise and honeymoon. Probably should have done this sooner, but we couldn't decide on the exact dates we want to fly. I think we pretty much have that narrowed down now.

My fiance moved in 6 weeks ago and I was really nervous that would derail my weight loss efforts. Luckily, overall it has not. I found that I am snacking less in the evenings because we are hanging out together. But, my workouts have definitely decreased since he has been here. I used to work our 4 times per week, but between errands on the weekends, traveling, and work, I have been lucky to get in 2 workouts a week in the past 6 weeks. Although I had been maintaining my weight over the past few weeks, I splurged over this past weekend and gained a few pounds Sadly, but fortunately, my fiance will be out of town for 2 weeks. I think it will allow me to get my routine back on track, then continue it once he is back. I went to the gym tonight and tracked my calories on MyFitnessPal (for the first time in at least 6 weeks). I only have 100 days until my wedding, so it is truly crunch time!! Happy New Year ladies