Can'tHardlyWait

Quote: Originally Posted by heidi&alex Yes, I also think her work is great! I have emailed her twice now, though, and have yet to hear back from her... I know it's a busy time of year for them so hopefully I'll hear from her soon. Thanks for the advice! I HEART Elizabeth too! When we hired her back in June for our wedding, I figured I would get in contact with her a few months before. Little did I know that she is always thinking about her brides... she is so sweet she emails regularly with cute ideas she sees at other weddings. Also, I have emailed her a few times about things that I love in other weddings she shoots - on one occasion, she even got in touch with the bride to find out where she got her linens and centerpieces. From what I can see, all the photographers you are considering look amazing! I am sure whoever you hire will make your wedidng look beautiful. If you still need to get in touch with Elizabeth, maybe I can help... I have a couple of email address for her. If you would like, I can PM them to you.

Its so beautiful Michelle!!! Congratulations... I have to echo what the girls said - you look like a princess Who is the designer?

Soooo... she never called me back last night! I mean, how do you not call someone back after hanging up on them (in her defense, her phone died)? Anyway, she called my cell today but I was at work so I didn't pick up... I had no intentions of having THAT conversation in my office! I just left her a message to call me.. we will see... In the meantime, I decided to take your advice ladies. I actually read through all the posts, and after talking to my own mother, I made a list of stuff I want to address. I know, I am a huge dork, but I figure this way I won't regret forgetting anything! I am all about having this conversation, but definitely NOT more than once. Ill post as soon as she calls back... By the way, Maria - you are totaly right about it sounding like it was all me. I talked to my FSIL last night and she told me that anytime the wedding comes up, FI's parents make it sound like its all me, not FI, thats causing issues. I am going to make sure she understands just because I am the one putting my foot down doesnt mean I am not speaking on behalf of BOTH of us!

From what I have been told (which isn't much) I think its "customary" to have your last fitting a week or two before the wedding. Either way, you definitely shouldnt stress because chances are, its going to fit perfectly and you could always have minor alterations if its absolutely necessary... but as far as your seamstress is concerned, she should have been willing to do that for you...

Quote: Originally Posted by AnnR eek - not cool of FI! definitely use the frying pan. what guys don't get is that the relationship between a DIL and MIL is very delicate. or often is anyway. mothers don't forgive (or forget) things the DIL says/does quite as easily as they do their son. so the son (your FI) blows it off saying ... "it's no big deal, she'll forget about it" ... well, not likely! you poor thing! I KNOW!!! I called him immediately and the conversation went like this: FI: Hi, cant talk right now. in a meeting Me: like hell u cant talk. Apparently you LOVE talking... talking isyour favorite. You had plenty of time to talk to your dad. Now you will talk to me. FI: Sh*t And then I proceeded to go off. The funniest thing is, I said all of those things when I was really really really pissed off at her, and now I am totally over it. To have it come back 2 freakin weeks later sucks so bad because now in order to do battle I have to regroup and remember all the stuff that pissed me off! I definately dont want FI's rediculous, "you are sleeping on the couch tonight" worthy screw up to go to waste though. She needs to know that she can't just push me around and then guilt me into saying everything is ok So.... I am going to take Betsy's advice and down a couple glasses of wine... and then prepare for battle

So here I am sitting on my couch surfing BDW when my cell phone rings. Its my FMIL and she wants to know why I think she hates me and my DW. I was FLOORED! Apparently FI got in a wedding-related argument with his father this afternoon and pretty much told him how I felt that his mother wanted to control the wedding and was constantly throwing her money in my face ... he went on to DETAIL how I said 1) she blew off helping my sister plan my shower bc she doesnt want to have to pay for that too; 2) anytime I ask for her opinion on something I like she says the exact opposite; 3) she only cares about the wedding to the extent that it is a reflection on her to her friends; 4) she is so critical of everything I do that she even corrects stuff that she did, ie, the invite reply card... First, let me say that all of the above things are true. Aside from the fact that she loves her son and me and wants us to have an amazing wedding, she really has fought me on this DW all the way (some of you girls might remember my posts on the endless fights bc she wanted a fancy NY wedding). Almost all of our disagreements have stemmed from how she thinks people, aka, her friends, are going to react to the different plans I have made. Regardless, here I was minding my own business and FMIL calls me in this quivering voice (imagine the worst Jewish mother guilt voice EVER)... I didn't know what to say! How could FI not give me a freakin heads up!!! All I can say is, thank GOD her cell phone died after 5 minutes otherwise I would have been forced to fake some sort of accident... pretend the kitchen was on fire or something ... now I have the dreaded follow up conversation to look forward to...

Quote: Originally Posted by fogdog Just to clarify, the tip was only on her fee (not on all the other services she arranged). If your WC is arranged through the hotel, they might automatically tack on the 15% service which may or may not cover her. Ohhhhhh... I stand corrected.

I think the 20% only works in certain situations... otherwise my WC would be getting over $10K! Sorry, but that’s just way too much for me! I don't know if this is a good benchmark, but when I was originally planning my wedding in NY all the WC's I met with said they take anywhere between 5-10 % of the total wedding budget, depending on the degree of involvement. Also, you should take into consideration that things work differently in different countries. When we went to our site visit, FI tried to tip the WC's $100 each for being so amazingly helpful while we were there, and they both adamantly refused. We ended up just leaving it in envelopes on their desks when they weren’t looking. Afterwards, we found out that taking tips was grounds for dismissal at our hotel... we were so worried that we got them in trouble! Long story short, as of right now, we budgeted a $500 tip for each of our WC's... now that we are getting into all the craziness of the wedding, it will probably go up (its only fair... lately I have been talking to my WC more than I talk to FI)

I am using a company called "Cancun Valet". Their prices are great and I can't remember who, but someone on this forum used them and recomended them. I also checked them out on trip advisor, and they got great reviews. Here is the website: Transportation - Cancun Valet

Oh, I totally started crying the minute I saw the second picture!!! They look so in love... so happy for her!!! Keep us updated if you hear anything else. It looks like everything went perfectly from the pictures

When I was down in August I saw that the supermarket and walmart both sell alcohol. Also, for OOT stuff, you can find Mexican versions of doritos and cheese puffs... if my WC hadn't pointed it out, I wouldnt have even noticed that it wasnt the brands I was used to

I am totally doing this too! I read it in some magazine and totally loved the idea. Here is a tip: an easy way to find out their first dance song is to tell them you are trying to figure out what yours should be, and then casually ask what theirs was It works every time!

If we are talking about the order that they walk down the aisle, then I did first friends (3), then FI's family members that are in my wedding party (3), my best friend from childhood, my youngest sister, and finally my MOH (other sister) ... holy crap, I have one big freakin wedding party! I don't have to worry about height or anything like that because we decided to let the bridal party sit through the ceremony. We are jewish so our immediate family is going to be under the canopy with us according to tradition.

I had the same problem, so we decided to forgo a title and just wrote "Please join us beachside for a dinner in honor of... on the eve of their wedding" or something to that effect. Anyway, I think calling it a rehearsal dinner is just fine too

Thanks ladies!!! I am pretty excited about the whole thing By the way, for those of you that know me, I bet you can guess what I am wearing on my feet right now as I sit on the couch surfing the internet Now if only my seamstress didnt have my wedding dress, I could totally walk around my house in my full wedding attire for the next 3 hours (until FI comes home) Quote: Originally Posted by Mrs.B 2008 Galit - i hope they are a size 7 so you can send them to me after your wedding HAHAHA!! nice Sorry girl, they are a 7 1/2... but if that works for you, you know I would totally ship them to Philly after the wedding... once you promise to send them back after your wedidng!!! They can be like the new travelling starfish, only a bit more expensive

So I have been STALKING the Stuart Weitzman store in the mall, just waiting and watching for them to have a sale. I fell in love with these shoes when they were full price (I think around $375). FI said to just get them back in November, but I waited .... AND I bought them this weekend for $109.00 I am so excited, now all I need to do is locate wedding jewelry and i am all set I heart checking stuff off my list!!!

How lucky are you to have 2 TTd shoots!!! The pictures look beautiful... I love the bright blue against your white dress Your husband must love you very much to do this with you even though he was uncomfortable

Congratulations!!! You must be so happy to have found "the one" ... It looks so beautiful and you loook so happy in it

We are still working on this too, but FI is thinking of sticking with something classic like Louis Armstrong's "what a wonderful world" so he doesnt end up with somethign cheesy his mom picks out.

congratulations on picking a location! I swear, that is the hardest part of planning a destination wedding. Good luck and happy planning

Welcome to the forum!!! I am getting married at Occidental about a month after you in May. Let me know if there is any information you need... also, I did a site visit back in august so I have pictures too Good luck planning!

Welcome to the forum Violet! Don't stress, almost everything will eventually fall into place and the stuff that doesnt probably wasnt that important ot begin with! I have all the menus and prices for Occidental. Just PM me with what you need and your emaill address, and I'll forward you all the information.

Quote: Originally Posted by violethaze2b Hello, My wedding is planned there for May 15,2008. I am ok with the small beach since there seems to be lots to do and pools close by I am sure the week there will fly by, then heading over to Secrets (adults only) for a few days but I can't remember their beach situation. I wasn't able to get out there for a sight check but I think I got lots out of reading reviews at tripadvisor and such. Good luck! Violet - are you going to be at Occidental for a week? We might be there at the same time! I am getting in on the 21st

Hi! I am getting married at Occidental Grand Xcaret. I don't really have much info on Xcaret Park (except that it's beautiful) but I was at OGX in August and I posted some of the pictures on the forum. If you go into the Riviera Maya forum, and do a search for "occidental" they should come up. If you have any problems finding them PM me and I'll just email them to you... good luck and happy planning!

Quote: Originally Posted by foxytv Wow, some of you ladies seem to be starting your fitting awfully early. I checked with the salon a few weeks ago and she said based on our wedding date (April 19) that my first fitting should be the first week in February. Am I waiting too long for fitting #1 Looking back, did I need to start in January? probably not, but I guess it depends on how busy your salon is. I had my first fitting a couple of weeks ago for my May wedding, and it was mostly to figure out the bustle, length, and take the dress in generally... I guess with things like that it doesn't matter how much weight I lose! I got a call this week to schedule my second fitting and her earliest date was in March. After that, my last fitting should hopefully be the week before the wedding for any last minute changes.