fogdog

I'm curious if you ever found an answer to this question? I am considering going the same route and haven't come up with any suggestions...

I took my dress to a seamstress even though it didn't really "need" alterations. She is going to add some structure and padding to the top so I won't need any type of bra. When I went for the fitting she stuck a bunch of stuff in the dress so I could see what it would look like and it was amazing what a difference it made in the look of the dress. When it's all part of the dress you don't risk it ever showing.

I've read a couple reviews of people who have gone to Trader Joe's or Costco for their flowers and put together their own bouquets, centerpieces, etc. Has anyone attempted this in Cabo? Where did you get the flowers? Do they have them at Costco and did you set it up ahead of time or just go in? Or is there a local florist? I need to cut budget and flowers are low on my priority list so I'm wondering if I might be able to try this there. Thoughts?

There are a few different areas at the Sheraton where you can do the reception. 2 restaurants and what they call the Palapa. The Palapa is not officially private but I think others who did receptions there were happy with it - maybe if you search for Jessalyn's review she will say something about it bc I think that's where she did hers. We're doing ours at the d'Cortez restaurant which is only private if you meet a minimum spend. With the # of guests you're having it's unlikely that you'd meet the minimum in a reasonable fashion. We're expecting more than twice that and are worried we might not reach it so might not end up having it private after all.

omg - too funny! you have to do it and post your video to the forum! i love it!!

I also made mine myself. Well, with lots of help from my cousin, I should say. I bought envelopes, paper, photo corners all from Paper Source. My cousin had the letterpress made and printed them for me. Without postage, it was less than $300 and I have tons of leftovers for placecards, tags, menus, thank you's... I sent about 80 invites.

I also fell in love with a pricey paper. But, I designed my own invites and rather than using large piece for the invite, I printed the invite portion on plain cream card stock and then "framed" it with the paper. I also created a band out of the paper which wrapped around the whole thing. It kept costs way down and I have several usable scraps for placecards, etc. I got all my invite stuff and some inspiration at Papersource.

Jill - Did you order from Storybook Lane (the link you posted)? How many come in the package? I think this is a totally cute idea and we are doing a sit-down dinner so I've been looking for name card thoughts.

We do have a website and I had initially thought of having people respond there but Brian wanted to get the little cards in the mail. Weird. Anyway, since it's destination, we already know most of who's coming anyway and could just do both, I suppose... I guess the thing I'd hate the most is if someone actually tried to mail it and it got sent back to them and they felt like they had to deal with it...

Thanks for the input (though not what I was hoping for...)! As for your questions, yes, they are much smaller. They are 2 1/4 X 3 1/2 so about half the 3 1/2 x 5 minimum of the post office. The main problem is that we had designed a band to go around the invite and when you open it, the reply card plus envelope was on one side and a little information card on the other. Going to a bigger envelope completely ruins the design bc it won't fit into the band. I could just put it in the back, but then the envelope would be 2x the size of the card...but it sounds like that's what we'll have to do if we actually want to get them back!

ugh...I am diy'ing my invites and my cousin designed them for me. I was so excited they were going to be done soon and was looking at postage rates when I realized there is a minimum size for letters! shoot. my reply cards are tiny, much smaller than the 3 1/2 x 5 inches minimum the post office shows on their website. Has anyone used reply cards smaller than these dimensions? Did they go through the mail? I'm inclined to send them anyway and see what happens...is this dumb? I figure we'll know who's coming. The reply cards are already printed, so my only option is to go back and buy an envelope that is bigger than the card... What would you all do?

I received a family gift of a beautiful set of China and want to register on replacements.com for a few more pieces. Has anyone done this before and do you have any advice on how to ID your pattern? The China is made by a company called Paragon and there are literally hundreds of choices...

I am paying $190 (plus tax plus tip) for hair and makeup from Suzanne Morel in my hotel room. I thought it seemed high but (1) that's what other girls on the forum seem to have paid and (2) everyone has been happy with their services so I was fine with it. I didn't want to have to look around for the sake of saving a few $$ and maybe ending up with something I didn't like.

One caution about Titanium that our jeweler mentioned: If you get in an accident involving your finger those titanium rings are nearly impossible to cut off and can be somewhat dangerous.

Well, I don't have a sister so can't read too much into her opinion or how she expressed it. But, as far as "settling" goes: I came down to 2 dresses in the end, with one being $1100 plus alterations fees more than the other. When I thought it over, yes, I liked that one better, but no I didn't like it $1500 better (when I knew that $1500 could buy part of our honeymoon or reception or jewelry or ...). Did I settle? Sure. Am I happy with my decision? Absolutely. Do what makes you happy. She not the one wearing the dress. There are going to be things about your wedding that not everyone is going to like. I learned this at the very start when I chose my date and it continues to be true about almost every detail along the way.

Good point about the centerpiece - that's a good compromise/option. I'm considering walking with my mom and dad, which means I won't have the hands to hold it anyway... I think this will be the deciding factor.

Natalie's incredible TTD slideshow has inspired tons of questions! I'm wondering what you do with regards to hair and makeup if you do it the morning after? Do you just get up and go? Sleep on it? Attempt your own? Get the professionals back? I'm having Suzanne Morel do my wedding hair and makeup because I'm just not capable of doing this myself. But I don't want to go through it all over again in the morning. Everyone who has done this so far and shared their slideshow looks absolutely gorgeous...share your secrets? Is it just the "glow" from your wedding night...LOL!

I agree with everyone else, try to work it in. Especially if you're doing it the morning after - your photographer will still be close by. That's what I did and my photographer was actually really excited about doing it (maybe bc it's a little different, more fun, less stress...) and it wasn't that hard to add it in at a reasonable price.

Thanks everyone, for sharing your opinions. I agree with most of you that it feels more bridal and can't imagine a wedding without one which is why I asked the question. But when I started to think about my poor brother standing up there holding it and started wondering whether it's really necessary or not... I also tried to think back to weddings I've been to and I can honestly say that I don't remember a thing about any bride's bouquet. And, since almost all my girlfriends are married at this point, there's really no point in throwing it! I think I'm going to go without and instead put the $ toward centerpieces or the arch for the ceremony.

so my brother is going to be my man of honor and i won't have any other bridesmaids, etc. i don't want to make him hold the flowers and i've heard that i can't bring them home from mexico anyway. which means i'm thinking about going without a bouquet. would this be strange? is there any other good reason to have one? it seems like just one more thing to worry about but maybe i'm missing something...?

I agree with the above - go ahead and register, but don't "announce" it. From what I've read in a couple etiquette books this is bad form. If people really want to get you a gift and you register somewhere mainstream (macys, C&B, WS, etc) people will find it.

I had only about 4-5 months to sort it all out and for a while in the beginning I was ready to give up. Then someone gave me the brilliant piece of advice to do only one, and no more, thing each day. Pick one thing, focus on it for the day, set some type of goal (to decide something or complete a task), do it, and then get back to enjoying the rest of your life. Engagement is fun - don't let the wedding get in the way of that! If you contemplate your entire list every day it will stop being fun.

Wow! So worth the wait! Tammy, you and Cain are such a gorgeous couple! Juan, again, truly beautiful work! Congrats!

I also used Suzanne Morel (for a similar arrangement as Drea) and booked as soon as I knew that's what I wanted. I felt lucky they were still available as I just did this in July and my wedding is in Nov. If you're not doing it at the hotel, I would recommend booking as early as you can.

I agree that this was a really frustrating process. And, not to make you feel any worse, but the contract stage doesn't get much better. I would advise 2 top choices just in case you can't come to terms with your first choice.