Copita

I found my dress a YEAR before my wedding and ordered it 7 months before. So no, it's not too early. When you fall in love with the dress of your dreams, that's it!

I have more! LOL. Thanks for the lovely words, ladies! Flamenco Style:

Maids, Groomsmen, Parents, and Pastor: back of my dress: Dancing

Oh, mylanta! Where to start?! The wedding was GREAAAAAAAAAAAAT! I am sad that it's over and now I feel like, Well what to do now? LOL. I haven't been on this site in forever so I can't wait to see everyone else's pics!!! We almost missed out connection getting to DR and just BARELY made the next one. After that, smooth sailing! They had a sign in the lobby welcoming all our desk and fun cocktails all around. It was a whirlwind vacation and I wish it was tomorrow still! :) The Iberostar Punta Cana is the BOMB and I highly recommend it to any brides who want to marry in DR. Our wedding coordinator was fantastic and so was her manager. We ended up having 64 guests total and I feel so blessed that that many people came to our wedding. On the day of our wedding, I was just swimming up the pool, all normal til about 2 p.m. when I got super nervous and jittery! LOL i did drink two mamajuanas before I walked down the aisle with my Dad and was crying before I even got to the alter/gazebo. After that, we did a private cocktail/h'ors deurvs hour and had a private dinner reception at another location with the live band that I was so worried about but ended up being GREAT! Here are some PICS cause I know that's what you want to see!!! Special shout out to my JULY brides who I have SO much catching up to do with!!!! HUGS, everyone!!!!!!! I wish I could go back............ LOL! The set-up The groom: Walking/crying with my dad: Just before my dad gives me away/J turns to see me for the first time: One of my favorite candids: Saying our vows with our wonderful Pastor. The kiss! Sand ceremony:

Hey chica! Congrats on your pending nuptials! We sent out 100 invites and 64 people came. Loved it!

Well, ladies, after a year and a half of planning this wedding, it's finally my turn to get out of here and leave for my wedding! I'm at work now so busy tying up loose ends but I leave at 4 this morning/tomorrow for Punta Cana and can honestly say I cannot even sit still in my office! Everytime I think that my wedding is in two days, I want to pee on myself from excitement. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! My office just threw me a little send-off party and now I am even more cahrazy feeling inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you ladies and gents for alllllll of your wonderful help and ideas with planning and listening to me vent and just basically everything! A VERY SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO THE JULY BRIDES (MAURA, ABBIE, KATRINA, JUSTMARTHA, MANDA, BEACHBRIDE, ALL OF YOU)--YOU GUYS ARE TRULY TRULY THE BESSSSSSSST! AND TO ALL THE DOMINICAN REP. BRIDES! I will come back with a ton of pictures, I promise!!!! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t23526 http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t24189 http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t23931

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek I love that show, those brides are CRAZY. Your cuz deserved the I'm the bride moment. Hello your busy, what was she thinking. That's why i bought "I'm the Bride" tank top. you'll have to get one of them. lol Are you serious!!! Danielle, I NEEEED that tank and wish I would have known about it before!!! HAHA LOVE IT! Quote: Originally Posted by Davematthews16 You seriously made me just laugh out loud right then!!!!!!! It's awesome you have such a great attitude and are replacing stressful situations with "Im the briiiiddeee" I think it's AWESOME!!! hehe Have a great wedding!!! You guys all all make me laugh! Love you all!

Quote: Originally Posted by lucy106 I did see that and love it!!! That is hilarious!! Did you see Sunday nights new episode where the bride is screaming at her teenage daughter and all, yikes!!! Good for you for lauging your BM's silly-ness off! Thats all you can do at this point! LOL Lucy... The brides on that show crack me up! They are so loopy!

Has anyone ever seen that crazy commercial for "Bridezillas" on WE where the bride freaks out on everyone and starts yelling, "I"M THE BRIDEEEE!" It's so funny to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My wedding is 4 days away. We leave in 2 days (I know, insane). Well my cousin, a bridesmaid who lives in another state, just called me and say, Erica, I can't find the shoes to match at the store that the other maids got.... Can you go looking for them for me? .................................................. ........................................... .................................................. ........................................... Um, No. I can't. Do you know WHY? ( I wanted to say....)... "CAUSE I'M THE BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA But I didn't. It was still funny though. I just told her, Um, I have a lot to do, since I am getting married and all and leaving for the islands in 2 days. See, normally this would stress me out but when I hung up I started laughing maniacally cause I decided that from here until the wedding, in my head, everytime I hear someone say something hilariously stupid, I am going to say, "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M THE BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE" like that girl on Bridezillas. And to think, I thought she was psychotic. HAHAHA Now I totally understand. People are so strange!

YOU'RE GETTING CLOSE, WOMAN!!!! JUST TRY TO take it easy and breathe, you know? It'll all work itself out. I hadn't started to really freak out til this morning. ... four more days. I cannot beleive it! AHH JULY BRIDES!!! HIGH FIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My FI has one and swears it is the most awesome thing in the world. I guess Im not fussy though. I have a $50 phone that has texting, picture mail, and phone/voicemails, internet and my bill is only $45 a month. LOL. haha. If you want one thoguh, go for it. He always goes on and on about how great it is.

AMY!! Your RING BEARER IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!! I love your rings and your dress is dahling!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything looks beautiful! When do you leave

3. Am a sucker for sweethearts.

Hey Candie! We stayed at 1 hotel but emailed/called the WCs at each place we wanted to visit to set up a time with each of them and scheduled them far enough in between and also saw how close they were in between eachother to give us a good idea of how long it would take to travel and get a taxi, etc. Also, we made sure to review the wedding packages beforehand to see which ones were in our budget and offered things that we wanted, etc.

Welcome To The Board, Karina

Hey chica. I go to DR quite a bit and have traveled to different resorts there extensively and have seen all kinds of wedding receptions: private ones, semi-private ones, ones right in public. We are having a completely sectioned-off, private reception. We do not want anyone not a part of our wedding there so we are completely closing off an open-air restaurant that is close, about 5 seconds from the beach, in the evening. We've got two bands, and a sit-down dinner, as well. Any resort can customize your wedding exactly to how you want. Whatever you want, you can have it. If you have any questions, let me know. DR is a WONDERFUL WONDERFUL ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Katrina, everything is WONDERFUL! I love love LOVE your cake toppers! HOW CUTE!!! And your clutch is so gorgeous. The colors just pop! :) Your engagement ring is sooo lovely! You are going to look so beautiful in your dress on your big day! You are almost there, girl!!!!!!! HOW EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Katrina, You're all packed?!?! Lucky lady!!! I leave in TWO days and haven't even started yet! HAHAHA. Must do that tonight. I got one of my nephews to burn that CD I needed. Should be interesting cause he's 15 and I told him to "pick out some songs" that you like. Oh Lord. I pray it's not crazy music. LOL. I do'nt think the band will rest more than 15minutes between each set so we should be fine. Jorge's parents, his bro, and bro's wife and kid left Portugal already for DR today! I cannot believe this is really happening, guys. I just want to say right now that this JULY BRIDES thread has been the best EVER! and I will miss you guys when I'm gone and it has been so fun sharing planning details with you guys. You guys are the best ever. BDW rocks! :)

Quote: Originally Posted by vale You look stunning, the dress is gorgeous. Gratzi! Quote: Originally Posted by Maura i finally am starting to like how i look in photos! the wedding photos are the most important vendor to me, so i wanted to look really good in those since we planned on framing them for our parents, hanging them in gallery frames in our house etc etc -- i figure if i have to look at them all the time i dont want to look like a fatass and lament for the rest of my life about how unhappy i was with the way i looked on my wedding day! it's been super easy taking the alli and my results are even better the weeks that i work out. ERICA - you look AMAZING! I dont know that I ever saw your dress before, and you look like a bridal beauty queen! i cant believe your wedding is next week!!!!!! Maura, I am glad the alli is working out for you. You are going to look like a queen, I'm sure, on your big day. And thanks for the sweet comments. Made my entire day.

I totally agree with the above posters. The resort we are staying at is really nice but it's also very much worth it. And it's where we wanted to have it. You can't please everyone and it will all work itself out in the end.

^^ Yep! Iberostar Punat Cana in Dominican Republic. You're right...there are not a lot of Ibero brides on here. So we have to talk them up! :)

Thank you! All of you! I cannot wait to wear it!!! Quote: Originally Posted by ErinB You are beautiful! I can't wait for real wedding pictures! The dress is a perfect mix of elegant/traditional with fun/beachy! How are you coming with packing? Girl, I haven't even started packing yet! HAHA I need to do that soon! We leave Thursday morning! Quote: Originally Posted by ehegwer having your toes, hips and shoulders, and chin, all facing the camera at the same things, thing about twisting a little bit. Imagine if only one of the four things were pointed at the camera. You can practice a good static twist in front of a full length mirror for practice. Congrats on picking out a fantastic gown. Thanks for the tip! I will definitely take this into account on the Big Day! Quote: Originally Posted by Leia78 Fits like a glove! Stunning! Yay! Quote: Originally Posted by blinkgrl119 you look absolutely perfect in your dress - it honestly looks like it was made for you lady!! :)

I can understand your nervousness. Can you call the hotel and ask for the manager? I know you can get everything worked out. Good luck.

We booked ours via a TA with Funjet. I subscribed to Mr. Iberostar but didn't find that they gave any awesome discounts, IMO. My family has been staying at the Iberostar for 10+ years now. We looove the chain. Hooray for Ibero weddings :) Congrats to ya!

^^ Thank you! And I will def post pics of it!!! Here are some final fitting pics, guys from this Saturday: And the rest: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...189#post444705