Meandhim - Grand Palladium Bavaro - Nov 2015

[acw271011]

@@Meandhim I'll get to meet you when you get my dress bag!! lol You'll be so close to your wedding by then!!!

Good lord in heaven. Two weeks of overtime and I'm so far behind!!!

 

First of all @@beckys98 what a sweet thing to do!! How cool is that!

 

@calgarybride2015  Now you know why I'm still here!! I love watching everyone go through all of their planning and seeing their reviews after their big day! You ladies become like my own children! lol It's just a fluke after everything Doug and I have been through that we're going to renew our vows and this is where I came back to for ideas and suggestions!

 

@Meandhim  Your thread is really coming along nicely! you've pulled so many of your details together already! And I totally agree - you should absolutely do an Etsy store!!! Why the heck not???

[diadiamond]

@@Meandhim I love your story.  My condolences to you, your FI, and  your family.  I'm happy that things worked out for you in the end.  Your nan is a very strong woman!  I've always wanted to go to Newfoundland and I love people from the East coast everyone I've met from out East is so friendly.  

 

I've also has some challenges in my wedding planning as well and had to change my date too.  Until now I thought that I was the only bride that didn't have a smooth planning experience. 

[veryvalentine]

Hey!  I'm just catching up on your thread.  I like what you are going to do with the little "messages in a bottle"  we are doing the table number idea with them.  they are so cute and inexpensive.

 

I was reading your post where you asked if it was normal that your names aren't on your favours etc etc...and I'm sort of on the same boat. 

 

So we've been trying to avoid the cheesy "name and date and blah blah" because it's mostly Important to us but not necessarily to everyone else to have every item stamped with our info.

 

Our welcome bags have a design we made with our hashtag and that's it, we  have a label for our chapsticks that has just the hashtag, our door hangers only have the hashtag, the maracas have a tag attached that say our names but that's removable.  Essentially we really tried to be cool and just have the hashtag....but then my dad, who is close to 75 now, decided to "help out" with the wedding.  he he.  One day out of the blue he asked for a picture of me and my fi...so I sent him one...before I knew it, a few days later he send me a picture of a mug with that same picture, and it says "a Souvenir from the wedding of Rebecca & Alonso, June 20th, 2015" in spanish  lol  So my dad had like 40 mugs made with our pictures on them.  I feel like it's soooo cheesy but I can't hurt his feelings and it's actually just kinda cute.  I've told my close friends and now it's just a giggle...

 

so ya, I totally get where you are coming from...I really tried to keep it chill with the whole wedding branding but now I have 40 mugs with my face on them.  hhahahah

[Meandhim]

@@acw271011

Yay! Can't wait to meet you thanks for the compliment but I still feel like I'm very behind in planning.

 

@ Thanks

 

@@diadiamond

 

Thank you, I find no one really writes about how crappy planning can be sometimes...lol...I'm sure some people are screaming blasphemy! At me right now...ha! I'm sorry to hear you were having challenges with your planning too, it sucks! I'm Glad to hear you are back on track now. I am of the mind that everything happens for a reason so maybe it's all for the best. I hope that your planning is much smoother from here on in! I can't wait to hear about it

 

@@veryvalentine

I just love the bottles... I'm going to try to make a trial one this weekend... See how it goes

 

Lol love that your dad got you the mugs so funny! It's really cute! It's cheesy but it's now a "wedding story" which is so awesome! You'll look at that mug in 10years and it will still make you laugh I bet!

 

 

 

 

 

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[acw271011]

Hey!  I'm just catching up on your thread.  I like what you are going to do with the little "messages in a bottle"  we are doing the table number idea with them.  they are so cute and inexpensive.

 

I was reading your post where you asked if it was normal that your names aren't on your favours etc etc...and I'm sort of on the same boat. 

 

So we've been trying to avoid the cheesy "name and date and blah blah" because it's mostly Important to us but not necessarily to everyone else to have every item stamped with our info.

 

Our welcome bags have a design we made with our hashtag and that's it, we  have a label for our chapsticks that has just the hashtag, our door hangers only have the hashtag, the maracas have a tag attached that say our names but that's removable.  Essentially we really tried to be cool and just have the hashtag....but then my dad, who is close to 75 now, decided to "help out" with the wedding.  he he.  One day out of the blue he asked for a picture of me and my fi...so I sent him one...before I knew it, a few days later he send me a picture of a mug with that same picture, and it says "a Souvenir from the wedding of Rebecca & Alonso, June 20th, 2015" in spanish  lol  So my dad had like 40 mugs made with our pictures on them.  I feel like it's soooo cheesy but I can't hurt his feelings and it's actually just kinda cute.  I've told my close friends and now it's just a giggle...

 

so ya, I totally get where you are coming from...I really tried to keep it chill with the whole wedding branding but now I have 40 mugs with my face on them.  hhahahah

 

Now this will sound really cheesy and I'm sorry but what your dad did brought tears to my eyes! lol As a mom of grown kids with grandchildren.... it's hard sometimes to communicate to your kids what events in their lives mean to you. I bawled my eyes out when 2 got married, one of which I actually had NO KLEENEX! And the pictures look horrible because I'm all red eyed and stupid. lol But the thing is what your dad did is exactly the kind of thing I would do!! And yeah my kids would have the same reaction lol

[TinkerSofi]

Aww your dads gesture is so cute!! It melts my heart. My parents are the kind who would totally do that haha and I love them for it because it means the world to me

 

 

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[calgarybride2015]

Aww your dads gesture is so cute!! It melts my heart. My parents are the kind who would totally do that haha and I love them for it because it means the world to me

 

 

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I agree!

 

My mom would be the one in a shirt with our picture on it hehehe!

[diadiamond]

So today I get the flight itenary a from Air Canada and it's all screwed up.... They have people's names wrong... The city's they are flying out of wrong... And the days they are flying wrong! What the F$&@ Air Canada! I'm so irritated right now! Just had to vent...I also think my TA should of picked up on this before she forwarded it to me... Ugh... Tomorrow is a new day right?!

 

 

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Oh NO!  I hope everything gets worked out!  I had issues with billing and rooms and stuff.  My TA put people together in rooms that shouldn't be together in rooms and I had to plead with him to change it.  I understand that it's only for billing purposes that he put certain people together, but those people made it into a big deal.  I know my situation is not like yours, but I definitely can understand how stressed you are.  

 

Keep us updated!  

Who's your TA @@Meandhim

 

Lord knows I have had problems with my TA. There were times I thought I would do a better job myself.

 

I thought the same thing to the point where I actually started looking up the requirements to become one!  The only regret I have is not using a TA that was a previous destination bride.  I feel like that would make a big difference.  We went with Marlin Travel in Mississauga so that we could meet with him face to face (which we've only done like twice).

[Meandhim]

@@diadiamond it's all being sorted... I picked this TA because I wanted face to face too... I'm in there all the time... She's probably sick of me now! Lol sometimes it's just easier than an email and it's literally a 2 min stroll from my office.

 

 

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[diadiamond]

Procrastination at its finest...that about sums me up! 

 

Legal Wedding – 102 days

Leaving for Punta Cana – 221 Days

Wedding Day – 226 Days

 

The Legal Wedding – Update

 

Speaking of Procrastination...we finally booked our tickets Home for July! I forgot to mention that the reason we are going home in July is actually because it is “Come Home Year” for the place where I grew up. The place I grew up is really, really, tiny (like 150 people tiny), so every 15 years or so, along with the 3 other communities close by, they organize a come home year. Come home Year is like a reunion of sorts....They plan a week of events...fishing derby’s, concerts, cookouts, etc...and people who have moved away all plan to come home during that week...it’s really fun.  

 

So we get into St. John’s Friday Night 1 am

We have to get Legally Married Sometime Saturday (TBD)

Sunday morning  6am Leave to drive to My Home Town for a week (12hr Drive with my Parents and Nan!)

 

Now I need to find a marriage commissioner who is available that day and I need to get the Marriage Licence. Apparently you need to apply for it in person there and you need to get it to the marriage commissioner 3 days before the wedding....umm...just a slight snag ...but we are going home in June for my FI’s Sisters Memorial so we will have to pick it up then I guess.

 

Now for Some of the Fun Stuff..

 

 

 

My Invites / Wedding Website

 

So far our Invitations are the DIY I’m most proud of. I searched around on Pinterest and I found what I wanted...I think it was linked to an etsy seller but out of my price range. I thought....ok...I can do this..so I downloaded the trial version of Adobe illustrator...watched a few video’s...(thank you YouTube!) and I was off...I will mention I do use Photoshop a lot at work so I wasn’t really learning from scratch. I used Vistaprint postcard template and waited for a coupon..I got 100 postcards and envelopes for just under $30!

 

I have a friend who is a graphic designer and she gave me some helpful tips

1.       Don’t use too many different Fonts – 3 max – make sure they complement each other

2.       Pair a Script Font with a simpler font

3.       Make sure the Important info is the easiest to read

4.       Don’t go crazy with colors

 

Here’s the result:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our wedding website I used Weddingwire...it’s a great website, not only can you make a website but you can create guestlists, budgets, other events, seating charts, RSVP, track gifts, registries, etc. I used the Flights of fancy (9 of 14, I think) design Template which kind of matched my Invite style. I must say the website was fun to make but realistically not many people really looked at it...I ended up making a secret Facebook group as well just because I knew that it would get the info out faster.

 

I have a Bunch of other stationary started / planned:

·         Resort Pocket Map / with Spanish Phrases - Started

·         Do not disturb sign - Started

·         I Spy Game / Scavenger hunt - Started

·         Luggage tag - Started

·         Welcome Letter

·         Menu

·         Program

·         Timeline

·         Madlibs / Trivia

·         Wedding facebook

·         Postcards – Might used this as the guest book...maybe - Started

 

This list is a little ambitious so we will see how far I actually get...haha! 

Next.....

 

 

The Dress

 

Wedding Dress Shopping was not what I thought it would be. None of my close friends or family live in the same province as me so the first time I went dress shopping I went to Beckers Bridal in Toronto alone. The sales lady was nice...a little pushy for my liking...I felt like she was trying to convince me to buy a dress I liked but was not really in love with...which is her job I guess, but still not fun. The second time I went I went to David’s Bridal with one of my Friends / Neighbours. It was a better experience as I had some to laugh at the things that looked ridiculous and someone to help me say no to the sales lady.

 

The dress I finally bought I found online at David’s Bridal on Sale...I saw it online and loved it...unfortunately this dress was not available in Canada! Which meant I could not try it on, I could not have it shipped here and could not return it if it didn’t fit. I called a few stores in NY that were within a reasonable driving distance but no one seemed to have that dress...I finally found a store that had one left  in size 12 (my street size at the time). It was too far to drive to the store but since the dress was only 199 USD I ordered it over the phone had it shipped to my FI’s Sister in California who then sent it to me. It Fit! Well sort of...it’s actually a little big for me...it fall straight down from the boobs. Alterations to be done:

 

• Darts to hug it closer to body in the front
• Possible lining replacement, the current lining is a little see-thru.

Since my first dress was so inexpensive I decided that I wanted a second, shorter dress for the reception so I could dance a fast Irish waltz with my dad and not have to wear high heels. I bought this one at David’s Bridal for $79 and I want a sparkly belt  to replace the ribbon.

 

I do have Dress Regret! Both My Dresses are in storage at my Soon-to-be brother-in-law’s and I haven’t tried them on since I bought them. I will have them both for almost 2 years when the wedding actually rolls around because of the date change and now I’m wondering if could have done better. I’m also losing weight...and I’m afraid that the dress will be way too big. I don’t have the room in the budget for another dress.

 

 

More to come soon...with more Pictures...

So happy that you have a date for your legal wedding.  It's so awesome that you made your own invites.  I love both your dresses!  If they don't fit properly you can always take them to a seamstress to be altered.  I bought my dress second hand and that's what I'm going to do as my dress needs to be altered.  

I love your shoe story!  That was so sweet that she bought the shoes and sent them with her FI to give them to you.  I love that we're a community here on this forum.  

@@diadiamond it's all being sorted... I picked this TA because I wanted face to face too... I'm in there all the time... She's probably sick of me now! Lol sometimes it's just easier than an email and it's literally a 2 min stroll from my office.

 

 

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Haha I'd probably do the same too, but mine is 30 min drive away.