NYJen

Quote: Originally Posted by gkashmira Good luck Jen! You're going to do great. I've never done Nutri-system but I have done the Zone delivery diets (that are crazy expensive though ) and I did lose about 15 pounds. It sounds this will be great to get you back on track! I would LOVE to do the Zone diet, but YES, it's ridiculously expensive ($40 a day.) I can't wait to get my shipment. My sister does Nutrisystem and loves it.

I used mygatsby.com for my Save the Dates. I thought they did a really nice job and I got lots of compliments on them. Check them out.

I LOVE to see pics of dresses (well, I LOVE to see pics of anything wedding related.) Can't wait to see what dresses you like.

That was the first gift I ever gave and I didn't know how to do it, so I asked to keep it private. Duh I just sent an email to the Contact Us email address to see if they can change it. If they can't fix it, I'll send another one.

Brendan and I met and started dating on April 6th, 1998. It was a blind date. We're getting married on our 10 year anniversary.

It's not much further. Maybe another 10 minutes. Everything is pretty close and you can get around quickly by car. If I remember correctly, I think we went all the way from downtown to the Cabo Surf Hotel in less than 20 minutes.

I think it's only about 10 minutes (at the most) by car.

Good luck, have fun and bring your own strapless bra with you.

Where are you going to look? By the way, what part of Maryland are you from? I was born in Silver Spring (even though my parents moved back to NY when I was only a couple months old) and I have family outside of Baltimore too. I grew up spending my summers in MD. I was on the Cal Ripken Jr. fan club too - how dorky.

Thanks for the heads up!! I had a cool idea for Attendant's gifts - bathing suits. Since everyone is headed to the beach, why not Old Navy has cute bathing suits and they're not too expensive. Just a thought.

That's the beauty of getting married these days - you can do whatever you want. There are no rules anymore. One option is that you can get the same ring in two different metals. If Brad likes the yellow gold and you like the white gold, then you can each get what you like. Another option is that you don't even have to get matching bands if you don't want. I want a plain platinum band to match my e-ring band. And since Brendan isn't a jewelry person at all, he may go with an Irish claddagh ring (in whatever metal he likes best.) The only thing that matters is that the two of you are happy with the rings you pick. That's it.

Thanks for all the well wishes ladies. I'll let you know what the food is like when I get it. Quote: Originally Posted by michelle08 I wanted to do that...but my FI says it's too expensive... I need feedback from you when you start to help me persuade... Well, right now there is a "special" going on. You get 28 days worth of food (which you can pick yourself) for $295 (and that includes shipping.) That's about $75 a week (not bad.) And you have to remember, you're not really going to buy any other food during the month (except fruits, veggies and maybe yogurt.) You can debate your FI on the money issue by letting him know there won't be as many dinner's out, grocery shopping or ordering in. You might actually save money doing this.

Well I'm not sure if you have a budget or not but that may end up playing a role in your ultimate decision. So my advice is to read up on as many of the wedding locations as you can. Read site reviews from other brides, check online - anywhere you can think of so you can narrow it down to 5 or so places for your trip. Make appointments with the WC at each of those locations and make sure you get all their wedding info. And make sure you take notes and pictures on your own too - you'll definitely forget some of the details when you get back. Good luck!!!

No tatoo, only a belly ring. And I'm too fat for a belly ring

First of all, OF COURSE it's a noble job. NEVER doubt yourself there!!! Secondly - next time this moron says something, don't defend yourself. It'll just look like you were offended and he'll get a rise out of insulting you. Instead, say something along the lines of "It must be miserable to be you. Always having to insult people to feel better about yourself and the decisions you've made in life. I love my job. Not sure why that bothers you so much." I'm sure he'll be the one on the defensive side after that comment.

Quote: Originally Posted by MikkiStreak I'm trying to convince Frank that we should use "grow old with you" by Adam Sandler (from The Wedding Singer).... hehehehe... I have been to a bunch of weddings where this song was used for the cake cutting. It's very cute. Since Brendan and I call each other "dawg" (as in homey, g-money, street talk terms of endearment) we're going to use "Who let the Dogs out" by the Baha Men for our introduction. As for the Processional, I love the suggestions on here. Has anyone thought of Rainbow Connection from the Muppet Movie? I had a friend that used Sunrise, sunset when she walked down the aisle. She also used "Storybook story" from The Princess Bride soundtrack as her first dance. I think we're going to use either "You and I" by Celine Dion or "100 Years" by Five for Fighting for our first dance. I love all the other ideas on here for the Recessional. Beautiful Day, I'm a Believer, Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours. So many good ones to choose from.

Are you working with a WC? I'm sure a WC could pull off that first design (which is BEAUTIFUL by the way.) Where did you find that pic?

You would think my wedding (and wanting to look great in my dress) would be a huge motivater for losing weight. Well it's not. Earlier this year I did a weight loss pool at work and I ended up losing 28 pounds in 3 months, just by watching my calories and exercising. The only thing that motivated me was that there was a $1500 prize for the winner (I ended up winning by the way.) But since then I've gained back about 15 pounds. Anyway, I can't take this anymore. I need to loss 40 pounds quickly so I can go dress shopping - which I'm going to need to do VERY soon. But I know I'm never going to stick to WW. It's too much work for someone who HATES to cook. So, I just placed my first order with Nutrisystem. I get all the food I need for a month and I can just pop it in the microwave. Plus, I'll end up getting a larger variety of foods this way. Rather than eating the same things over and over because I know how many points they are. And did I mention I don't have to cook - which I HATE!!! I should get my first shipment later this week. I'll let you know how it is.

I've heard (on this forum) that Denni's catering is pretty good. I'm sure I could have worked with The Lazy Gourmet to get the costs down but it still would have been close to $30000 for a party of 60 in the villa - so I just scratched the whole idea. If your FFIL has a connection at the Fiesta Americana, you should look into their Imperial Suite. It's the hotels private villa. And Michelle tells me they are very willing to work with brides on the menu. You could definitely have a great dinner for less than $100 per person. I personally think that is a great choice - they just aren't available on my wedding day.

Quote: Originally Posted by laurelandjamie Jen, I realized I never thanked you for all of the great information that you shared from your site review. It sounds like you had a productive visit and learned a lot. Have you decided where you are going to have the wedding? My FI and I are hopeless. We haven't made any of the big decisions yet. We thought we would rent a Villa (Los Flores, Punta Vista, Grande, Buena Vida), but maybe it will end up being cheaper at a resort. Anyway, thanks again for all of the helpful posts. Happy planning. Laurel Our original idea was to rent a villa. But it turned out to be too expensive and not as convenient. Plus, our guest list is too large for a villa. The quote I ended up getting from the Lazy Gourmet was too high. It was over $10,000 for 60 people and that didn't even include drinks or a cocktail party. Where are you thinking now?

We actually ended up having some issues with the Hilton. They DO NOT negotiate ANYTHING!!! Emeline and I emailed back and forth so many times on the menu. I know it's very early to talk food, but I wanted to at least have a general idea of pricing before signing a contract with them. So I'm sure she hates me now because I fought her on EVERYTHING. She's been away since mid-July and she's not back until the 30th. So we took this time to research wedding locations in NY. Our thought process is, if we find something we like better at home, we'll do it at home. But honestly we haven't found anything better yet. I have 2 more appointments this week so we'll see what happens. But we've now pretty much accepted the fact that if we do it at the Hilton, we're going to get ripped off. But again, I know that we're also paying for the weather and the view, blah, blah, blah. I just keep reminding myself that it's the same thing as when I shop on 5th Avenue - I'm not paying for just the item, I'm paying for the rent as well. I'm ok with it. Plus I'm going to recommend the Marbella Suites at the beach for those guests that don't want to spend $300 a night at the Hilton. I think it's all going to work out now.

We're so bad, we order in dinner almost every night. But it's mostly because we're both tired by the time we get home from work. Plus we live in Queens and you can order in ANYTHING here. And believe me, it no more expensive than going to the grocery story and we don't have to waste time cooking and cleaning. But if we do actually go food shopping, Brendan cooks and then I run the dishwasher. Works for me!!!

Drea, You looked GORGEOUS!!! Really, I loved your hair. Definitely consider leaving it down at some point in Cabo (unless it's too hot.) Have a GREAT time and enjoy it. The legal stuff is over now so you can sit back, relax and enjoy your party. Can't wait to see your pics when you get back. Safe travels!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by jak27 Jen, I can post pictures of the book after our wedding if you're interested (it's wrapped in shrink wrap right now, so I'm keeping it on to protect it) but if you like it, I can pick one up for you when we're in Cabo in November and send it your way. Just FYI for the future. I don't think I could ever find it on Amazon, so that's why we bought it in Cabo. OMG!!! You're the best. Yes, that would be great. Thank you!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by jak27 Jen, we are doing this with a coffee table book I purchase while we were down there a few months ago. It's called "Los Cabos - Baja California Sur" by Claude Vogel Thetion. It's a beautiful book. Oh, that book sounds so much better since it's strictly about Cabo. I'll definitely look into it. Thanks so much. And as much as I LOVE the Autograph Donkey thing, I think I'll pass.