beachbride08

We decided not to do individual gifts for the wedding. We bought a new Nikon camera a couple months ago and that was something we both wanted so we said that would be our wedding gift.

There was another BDW Chicago girl on here that had BD pics taken here awhile ago. She sent me the photographer's info a long time ago when I thought I was considering getting the photos done (but chickened out!). I must have deleted her PM, but I'm trying to do a google search to see if I can find the website again. Here is another one that came up though that you might want to check out: RACHEL STEPHENS PHOTOGRAPHY FOR WOMEN SIRENS GLAMOUR PINUP BOUDOIR NUDES PHOTOGRAPHER PORTLAND SEATTLE SAN FRANCISCO LOS ANGELES LAS VEGAS

Your pics turned out great! What a gorgeous location and you were a beautiful bride. Congrats again!

Tara, I can't believe you are leaving TOMORROW!!!! That is so exciting! I think you will be fine with a nude bra and panties under your dress. The TTD shoots are suposed to be sexy so why not show off the undies! Ha ha! Have a great wedding and I can't wait to hear about your wedding and all the others that are coming up. Woo hoo!!!!

You two have definitely been a lot! I think what you need to do first is take care of yourself and your FI. You should not be recovering and not emailing people to make their deposits! Second, is there any way to pick a different wedding package so you are not stuck with $10K if you don't have the amount of people to warrant that amount?

That is so cute, especially in a male dominated office. They are usually not the ones to plan things, but show up for the food and cake!

Quote: Originally Posted by monicaswave Sunbride, I am so sorry you feel very dissapointed with some of your friends and family. If it makes you feel any better I have gone through the same situation here. There are two important things I have learned from my wedding planning experience: 1) Some people that you really really from the bottom of your heart expected to support you on such a special time of your life will not 2) Other people that you are not that close with and did not expect to be there will I learned this the hard way so from now on I just focus on the second lesson. I became really really really dissapointed with two of my BMs too. One is my Maid of Honor who also happens to be my sister and my very best friend. Both girls happen to be in relationships with guys that completly consume not only their entire time but also existance. It is really sad because any time I needed their help for something they were always "busy." I wasn't going to be begging them for help so I just gave up with them and stopped asking. My best friend was even 2 hrs late to my bridal shower because she was having "issues" with the boyfriend before the party. And that's because she had promised my mom she would be there early to help decorate too. I am just grateful that I have other wonderful friends that realized my BMs were completly ignoring me and stepped up to the plate and helped me out with small things. In a way I'm glad that this wedding has helped me realize who really cares about me or not. It's a true test of friendship and I'm glad I am realizing this so I don't spend more time with people that are not worth it. This is so true!!! There was a big blow-up between FI and his brother who he had always been close with, but is not coming to the wedding and they haven't spoken to one another in over a year (he said a lot of other hurtful things to FI that had nothing to do with the wedding which is the reason they haven't spoken). We have about the same number if not more friends and co-workers coming to the wedding than family. That actually didn't even really bother me because we have great friends, some of which I have known almost my whole life so they are like family. The friends that can't make it have already started sending emails with well wishes since they can't be there with us. We knew not everyone could make it to the wedding, and there are some people we really wish could be there but know financially they can't. To get an email or card from them a week before we leave means a lot since we know they are still thinking about us and wishing they could be there.

Quote: Originally Posted by mandalaybay3071 Please help! I had the worst experience of my life (well, that's a bit draamatic) but so far, my worst experience with the wedding planning. I am in love with a Casablanca short dress so I went to a boutique to see it in person. I loved it! I had not planned on trying a dress on b/c I'm trying to lose weight before our wedding in July. Right now, I'm a size 14/16 and hope to be a 10/12 when we get married. So, here is what happened....I went into the dressing room with the dress I had been admiring for months. It was a size 12 so I thought it might be tight but at least I would get an idea. UM, hell no! It wouldn't go over my a$$ or my boobs! I was absolutely horrified and humiliated. Then the sales girl who BTW is a size 0 tells me that wedding gowns run small and that's it's more like a size 8 even though it says 12. I asked her to leave the dressing room and I changed clothes, grabbed my friend who had no idea what had just occurred in the dressing room and walked out in tears. To make things worse, the sales girl chased me out of the boutique and had the nerve to ask me if I was upset b/c the dress didn't fit. UM, no you stupid B, I was so excited that I'm too fat to put on the freaking dress of my dreams, over joyed really! So, now what? What was supposed to be fun and exciting is now a nightmare and I don't want to even think about trying on dresses. I'm continuing to work out and I've decided that I won't go back until February to do this again. Has anyone ever experienced this? What is a "plus size" girl to do I had a very similar experience as you at the first store I went dress shopping at. All the dresses were a size 4! I couldn't even get them on and was very frustrated. I am a 14/16 and had hoped to be at least a size 12 by my wedding (mind you I started planning my wedding 18 months in advance so I had plenty of time). The second store I went to was House of Brides. That was a MUCH better experience. They had dresses in all sizes so I could get them on. THere were still some that were too small, but I could get them on to get the idea of how it would look. Others were in my size and I had no issues. I ordered the dress in my current size and am glad that I did because even though I lost some weight I didn't have the big weight loss I hoped for so I would have been really screwed if I ordered a size that I hoped I would be. The boutiquey type stores usually have sizes on the small side as the previous poster mentioned try a larger store like David's where they have more of a selection.

Your pictures turned out great. You were a beautiful bride, and how cool that you had a rainbow and dolphins! Congrats!

Quote: Originally Posted by Chiquita Well... Jayson's dad had to go in for emergency surgery to remove his tumor.. so he cannot go to Hawaii. We are really disappointed, but glad he's done with all the surgery and can now focus on recovering. It's still up in the air if his mom is going to go now too, but I hope she will. Jayson really needs to have someone from his family there. Argh. I hope the surgery goes well for Jayson's dad. This must be really hard on both of you. I can't even imagine. Quote: Originally Posted by amyrak Thanks girls. I got the hair flowers off of Etsy. I was really happy with them. I can't remember the exact seller but if someone really wants I can try to do a search. We have our legal day on Friday (Halloween) I'm trying to figure out what to wear. It will be cold here to wear one of my summer dresses and I don't really have any winter dresses..any ideas?? I could just dress up for Halloween..haha I would love to get the flowers you have, but I probably do not have enough time to order them so don't bother searching. They are really cute though. Hopefully, I will be able to get real ones that size in Mexico. White House Black Market had some cute dresses. I was just in there on Friday. Quote: Originally Posted by SoontobeMrsE OKAY..... So - Saturday I went to the MAC counter and had my make up done. I thought it came out good. Heres the pic I had my daughter take before I put on my pink wig. Your make-up looks great! I'm glad you had a fun time at your bachelorette party!

It sounds like a fun night. 5 hours at the strip club!! Holy cow! I lvoe the wigs, and that food looks so good.

Lisa, everything looks great. Your invites turned out great. I love your dress and centerpieces. Have a great wedding and trip and I can't wait to hear all the details and see pics when you get back!

We have received a few cards with $ for our wedding. About half are from our guests coming to the wedding that didn't want to bring it to Mexico and the others are from those that aren't coming. I didn't anticipate getting wedding gifts from those coming, let alone people that aren't. I knew FI's parents were giving us money because they told us. I figured if we got anything I wanted to order thank you cards with some wedding photos on it. Now that we have gotten gifts I don't know if it is tacky to wait to send the thank yous, or just send something now acknowledging the gift? Mind you I'm the girl that writes thank yous the day I receive a gift so people know I am prompt with this.

Amy, your hair looks super cute! I love the color! Where did you get the hair flowers from?

Quote: Originally Posted by 2bebridejamaica HAHAHA Abbie too funny... but I do agree miss thang... stop selling and get packing!! I was up all night lastnight finishing my stuff. BTW THANK YOU MICHELLE for the shells. They came in yesterday.. wait till you see it all finished .. Planning thread tomorrow!!! You're welcome! I can't wait to see your planning thread!

This is my mom's chili recipe, and it is so good and super easy to make. I use Jennie O 97% lean ground turkey instead of beef. 1 lb. package ground turkey 1 29 oz. can tomato sauce 2 cans Mexican chili beans & sauce "pinch" chili powder (add more if you like it spicier) Brown the turkey in a skillet, drain grease. Put the meat in a stock pot and pour in the rest of the ingredients. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 1 hour stirring occassionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. It will thicken up as it cooks. I usually serve over macaroni, cavatappi or cavatelli noodles. If you make it let me know how you like it.

Here is the flower girl dress. My BM with the pink dress gave me her dress scraps so I am going to see if my FMIL can sew her a little pink belt, and she will wear pink flip flops.

Quote: Originally Posted by LadyCheese Is anyone else getting nervous?? We have only weeks before our big days!! I'm not nervous, I just want to get to Mexico already.

Quote: Originally Posted by Abbie oh my gosh michelle, quit selling stuff and go get married for gosh sakes, we want to see your pictures LOL!! I'm trying...8more days until we leave! I need to occupy myself somehow until then.

After my hair trail yesterday I decided not to wear my headpiece and veil so I am willing to sell both items. I also decided to use an off-white parasol rather than the pink so that is for sale as well. Prices do not include shipping. I can let you know the shipping cost before sending out. Veil - $20 Off-white, fingertip length, ribbon trim Crystal headband - $60 Parasol - $4.50 (Pearl River)

It looks beautiful and great job on losing 10 lbs!

I think they turned out great, very detailed and I love the color combo!

I took all my hair pics to my stylist, and she said if I went back to all dark with how light my hair is now it would fade really fast especially with being in the sun in Mexico. She suggested doing more lo-lites in a darker color and then I can always go back to all dark after the wedding. Well, after she did the lo and hi-lites we decided it looked too dark and washed me out so she went and put a few more hi-lites in around my face. I really like how the color turned out. I only got a trim, but I did make an appointment for the say after we get back for a hair cut! I can't wait! I wanted the first hairstyle, but she said my hair wasn't long enough and the bun wouldn't look as full so she did a looser messy style. Once she was done she put her fingers where the little flowers would be pinned (I want to get those same white flowers in the one picture if I can). I think in Mexico I will have to get the style a little tighter since some of the pieces started to fall out by the time I got home. The pics look kind of weird since there are no flowers so use your imagination.

Quote: Originally Posted by lucy106 Celina, I hope you have an awesome time tonight!!! Picked up my dress today. I love how it came out with cutting the train off. Here are some pics, you cant see my awesome hot pink shoes though. Oh well and please dont mind the crazy looks, yikes!! Steph, your dress is gorgeous. I love it! It is looks perfect on you. I had a busy day day yesterday. I had my hair appointment at 11 for cut, color and trial updo. I was torn on what hair color to go with- go all dark or low/hi-lites. She said if she took me back to all dark since my hair was so light it would fade really fast especially with being in the sun in Mexico so my hair might be a lighter color by the wedding. So she suggested putting more lo-lites in. She did that, but then we both decided I needed some more hi-lites around the face. I'm not really that tan right now so the darker color kind of washed me out. So she went back in and put some hi-lites. She did the trial, but the picture that I liked the best said really wouldn't work out well on my hair because it wasn't long enough so the bun part wouldn't look as full as the picture. So she did a kind of a messy loose stye so it would look like i had more hair. When I was at the salon she kind of put her fingers where the flowers would be pinned in so it will be a little tighter. When I got home some of the pieces fell out already since she didn't completely pin it up so I ended up taking it down before we went out. I think in Mexico I will have them do the style a little tighter than she had done it, because with the wind I know my hair will fall right out. Plus, I want a few smaller flowers like the girl had in the picture, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get them as I have only seen pictures of brides with one big flower so I guess I will kind of have to play it by ear. At least I have an idea of what to do though. I love how the color turned out and I already made a hair appointment for the day after we get back to get my hair chopped! I can't wait! Then, I headed over to the mall to go to Bare Escentuals to get my make-up done. My face has been breaking out recently probably due to stress so I wanted to try different foundation/powder to use on the wedding day. She did my whole face and I really liked how my eye make-up came out so I ended up buying almost everything she used! I spent $230! I am such a sucker. I ended buying the lipstick, gloss, extra brushes. Ridiculous, but at least I know it will cover up the acne which was my main concern. Plus, it stayed on all night which was good. After my make-up I met my two best friend's at Maggiano's for dinner. They made me wear this Bride-to-Be light up necklace. I ended up turning it off at the table because people were staring at me. Ha ha! They both gave me cards with really sweet things about our friendships in there so I started to tear up! I am such a sap. Then they gave me the starfish necklace from Tiffany's! I was so excited. I wanted to get that necklace for myself, and almost had bought it for them for their gifts but I wanted to get them more stuff. Our dinner was great, and then we headed out to North Beach. It is a bar/club with indoor sand volleyball and bowling. We had a few drinks there and danced the night away. We had a great time, and I haven't been out dancing in a long time. I forgot what a great workout it was! Plus, the make-up stayed on after I was sweating so I know I'll be OK in Mexico! I have a couple pics of my hair and the of me and the girls: My hair (just imagine flowers in the second picture): Me and Anna, BF since 1st grade. Me and Sarah, BF since freshman year of college: All of us: I need to go eat some breakfast, clean my house, and work on the wedding programs. And maybe take a nap, I got up way too early this morning!

Have a fabulous wedding! Congratulations!