Maura

HAIR & MAKEUP INSPIRATIONS: or makeup – darker lip and no eyeliner on bottom, but very similar to Holly’s GROOM’S ATTIRE: tan suit from banana republic (him modeling it in the store the day we bought it) with his tie from brooks brothers BM DRESSES From Ann Taylor Celebrations – off the rack! Best decision ever. Two girls are wearing this one: My SIL is wearing this one: The custom earrings I had made for each BM: Etsy seller Opheliax, her name is Sabrina, she was great to work with.

First, I am so indebted to Tammy Wright for creating BDW. I could not have planned my DW without this site! Thank you Tammy, for everything you do! And thank you mods also - this is a better place because of your diligence to keep it a certain way. I also could not have made it through the planning without so many of you there to cheer me on along the way, even when things got tough for me. I am so so greatful for all the wonderful friends I’ve made here. I cannot believe it is finally my turn. When I joined BDW in Oct. 2007, my wedding seemed SO far away! ok, on to the planning... I apologize in advance, this is going to be epically long. YOU CAN FIND DETAILS ON MOST THINGS IN MY BDW BLOG IF THE DETAILS ARE NOT ALREADY LISTED HERE. I will post all my templates when I get back from Mexico. Please understand if I don’t get around to answering all questions left on this thread before I go, we have a hectic few days left before we go. I promise anything unanswered before I leave will get first priority when I return. BRIDE GROOM THE E-RING: custom made, white gold cathedral set, cushion cut diamond in the center. micro pave diamonds set into the band. THE DRESS: DaVinci Bridal, Style: T8167, color: IVORY (designer’s website is DaVinci Bridal - Bridal Gowns, Bridesmaid Dresses, Prom Dresses) There is a little back story behind my dress... I saw a photo of it on a website right when I got engaged. I fell in love with the photo of the dress, but unfortunately, the photo did not have any info about who the designer was. I spent weeks and weeks trying to figure it out on my own, and finally I posted a thread asking for help and within a few hours, I had an answer! : http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t14133 So a BIG thank you to Michele (nenamono) and Morgan for helping me find the dress! I was able to haggle an amazing price because of you! (See here for pics of my first time trying the dress on, the day I bought it: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t14483) I ended up purchasing my dress from Cortes Modernos Aguilar in Chicago. The owner, Liz Aguilar, is nothing short of amazing. While the shop is a hole in the wall type place in Pilsen, I am so happy I found it! I’m happy to provide contact info for her/her shop via PM. They do not have a website. And a pic of me at my final fitting (see here for rest of final fitting pics (i am not wearing a sash like the photo with the model shows) - http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t26011): Detail on lace on bodice of dress: WEDDING DAY ACCESSORIES Custom made earrings from Etsy seller Opheliax DRESS TAG sewn into my dress (see blog for details), made by a family friend with a scrap from her wedding dress from 1972. VEIL Occansey Designs OccanseyDesigns Custom Wedding Veils - OBridal.com Contact: Kathy – she was FABULOUS. I wanted a veil just like AnnR’s and she helped me reproduce it in a little bit shorter length. Specs: 1. Color: Ivory 2. Length: 36 inches 3. Cut/Style: Angel Cut 4. Edging: Ivory Pencil edge 5. Basic Accents: None 6. Other OR Additional Accents: Single bead spaced every 1.5 inches along edging (please specify beads below) 7. Please specify mix of bead types from above: ivory 4mm pearl alternating with 4mm crystal 8. Attachment: 3 inch clear plastic comb 9. Custom Cut Fullness: This veil is cut from 54 inch wide material.

love the pics, congrats twinnie!

ugh you poor thing lizz, that has happened to me a couple of times actually, once even in a car door and the driver didnt realize and started to drive and i was screaming. i know the tylenol just aint gonna cut it - try to go somewhere else in your mind so that you are not thinking about the pain, i swear it will help if you can relax and let your mind go.

oh congrats!!! being an aunt is so much fun! (i have 6 nephews & a niece!)

i sure as hell wont miss the planning LOL

today's my last day of work and i leave weds. i am so glad that i took mon & tues off to prepare because these people are driving me batty!!!!!!!! i cant wait to get out of here at 5 pm

i just changed the title of the thread to july 08 newlyweds chat

dang, yamille beat me to it because i totally was going to start this thread to wish you a happy legal day! HAPPY LEGAL DAY TO YOU AND CHRIS! dont forget i want pics after

mine were $80 from my seamstress, she took in the halter straps, the sides of the boddice, just under the armpits, shortened the length in the front by about 6 inches and did a french bustle

wow! you guys ROCK! thanks for all the suggestions... i think i am going to push for montreal for this vacation and then go to toronto maybe in the spring if we can swing it. montreal sounds amazing -- edyta i would LOVE if you took tons of pics and sent me a link to them - my wedding is next weekend and ill be back august 17th, but i definitely will follow up with you about montreal when i get back - i am so psyched now!!!!!!!!!!!!

morgan i just finally got a little time to watch your video - it looks fantastic! i cant imagine how great it will look when you are done completely! it was really cool to hear your voice too

if you are looking for a euro experience without the euro price, one of my good friends honeymooned last august in montreal. they had a great time. we are actually considering a mini-moon there after we get back from our weddingmoon in cabo.

Have you been to the MoMA? i LOVE that museum

thanks everybody for your suggestions - we looked into montreal last night and it is about the same price as going to toronto. my DH is really sad the blue jays wont be in town because he really wants to see a ball game... so he also suggested san diego LOL so he can go see a padres/rockies game. i think i'd prefer canada... can you tell me some more about montreal? i would like to go somewhere kind of romantic since we do live in downtown chicago, we get our fill of city life. the only reason we didnt consider montreal before is that we thought it was going to be much more expensive than toronto, and toronto was within our budget. i definitely am jonesing a european experience though at non-euro prices can you tell me more about things to do in montreal? we were going to make pro/con lists with things to do/see etc for each city so we could decide that way.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nrvsbride April that's a really nice pic in your signature! yes it is really nice - but april, you need to resize your siggy pic because it is way bigger than the allowed 350x500 siggy size limit G- haha i cant believe you did that... call and tell them there was a mistake and see if they will refund, or at least credit you for something else...

awwwww rebecca that was sooo cute!!!!!!!! thank you, totally made me smile!!!!! i cant believe we have just over a week left... at this time next week i will be sleeping in my hotel room in cabo! (or, if i cant sleep because im not adjusted to the time change yet, i will likely be in the lobby using the wireless internet and surfing BDW LOL)

ok i only have finished one more page of the welcome book - i am almost done with another one but i have to insert some photos of cabo san lucas. so i should finish that one tonight. here is the one i finished last night, it's the first page about day trips

eeeee tammy, this sounds like so much fun!!!! can i join in after my wedding? i think you'll be on D by that time, so i will try to get A, B, C and D while i'm in cabo

All you Toronto ladies, I need some info from you! I think my DH has conned me into taking a second mini-moon trip to Toronto over Labor Day weekend since we only get 3 days to be totally alone during our honeymoon week (because several of his friends were too rude to take the hint to stay somewhere other than our hotel after our wedding day). We were randomly talking about Toronto last night after looking at a map - he's only been there once for a Rush concert last fall so he didn't do anything but go to the concert with his friend, and I've never been at all. I think it sounds like a fun getaway weekend just when we will be hit with the post-wedding blues (ok at least me haha). Before I commit to letting him spend all the money to fly there and stay in a hotel and all that stuff, I'd like to know a little more about the city. I would like to go, don't get me wrong, I just dont know much about the city! I want to get excited about it if we go. Can you fill me in about what kind of fun stuff there is to do? (Other than a baseball game, because I already checked and the Jays are not in town that weekend) What kinds of things would you recommend? Places to eat, things to do, etc etc. Should we rent a car, or would we be okay without one? We found a really good package deal through travelocity and it would be about $1200 for both of us to fly and stay in a nice hotel for 3 nights, 4 days. I'd like to keep the spending at $2K USD or below...what do you suggest? TIA!

dont bother trying to import them - the shipping fees and permit price alone will make it the same price as a florist in cabo.

Quote: Originally Posted by adias.angel Thanks ladies We have plenty of room but we just don't want her there. To make a VERY long story short his Grandma isn't invited because of some bad history with her. She has done some not so nice things to the family. Plus she will spend the whole time being negative and making everyone miserable. My FI said he only wanted people there who would just be happy to be together. She is NOT on of those people. In the end I have to let him make the call on who is invited on his side of the family. oh well you didnt mention before that she was a nasty beotch! she doesnt need to know right now that shes not invited, and when the time comes to tell her, it needs to be your FI or your FI's mom that bursts her bubble. make sure you dont discuss the wedding with her or give her details. Quote: Originally Posted by becks I think you're on the right track. Talk about the AHR, etc. And when the day comes that you have to explain to her why she isn't invited - and it will - that message should be conveyed by FI and not you. His call; his message to deliver. Don't get involved in that. If she's not a particularly nice person, you don't want her wrath aimed at you. Good luck! exactly - his family, his pile of shit to dig out of, not yours!

Quote: Originally Posted by twinkletoes How long will you ladies be gone? I cant wait to get back and hear (and see pics) of how everyone's wedding went! i return from cabo late at night on the 15th, and then we will be spending the 16th and 17th in a hotel somewhere most likely. we dont want the honeymoon to end LOL i may be able to sneak on and post a couple teasers the morning after we get back depending on what is going on. Quote: Originally Posted by becks I'm back on the 13th. I'll be sure to at least post a few tidbits. In other news... I may have to take back the nasty things I've said about my TA. She just told me that she's gotten us upgraded to the "ambassador suite" - about 2x the size of a regular room, with dining room, 2 bathrooms, etc., etc. And I was so enjoying being ticked off at her!! well i think that this was the LEAST she couldve done for you considering how much stress and anxiety she has caused you!!!!!!!!!

alyss, i just used 2x3s because i wasnt sure that we were going to take them to mexico (ends up that we arent taking them because we went with a dif kind of motif for the tables) - but i designed it in a word doc using text boxes. then i just did a few test prints on regular paper before i did it on the tissue paper to size it correctly and hold the test page up to the candle to see what it would look like. ohhhhh btw.... dont forget, you have to use an ink jet printer... it doesnt work with laser printers

yay, exciting, i love danielle, she does beautiful work!