MarieSam

You're right her work is beautiful ~ and I totally empathize with you when you say you get caught up looking at all your photography options. I swear in the past year I have spent more time looking at wedding photography than I've probably spent sleeping, lol. It is totally addicting and I am now convinced that being a destination wedding photographer has got to be the best job in the world!! Looking at Heather's work sorta reminded me of my own photographer, Stephanie Williams out of So Cal. Here's a link to her website, which she currently revamped and so it's not totally done yet. But her blog is also something to check out if you're interested ~ she's got a similar knack of capturing emotion and "the moment" with her own unique style, and she's really savvy when it comes to using natural light and the elements. Stephanie Williams - Photographer - Weddings, Portraits, Destination - Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Worldwide Hope this helps

Your pics are great and you looked amazing on your wedding day. And, wow, great job on your hair and makeup, it looks fantastic!!! I LOVE your dress, it's so elegantly sexy!!! Congrats

Happy Birthday Maura!!!! Hope your day is filled with lots of happiness and not too much work, lol. Relax as much as you can and enjoy every moment

Ok well I must preface this post by saying I’ve got a HUGE wedding party. 2 MOH’s ~ my best friend and my 13-year-old daughter ~ 7 BMs, 1 Junior BM, and 1 flower girl (it may be 2 come early next year). So I immediately knew there was no way I could afford paying for all their dresses, although I am paying for my daughter’s of course, my Junior BM and the FGs. I really wanted to at least provide all my girls with their shoes and jewelry, but still manage to stay within a reasonable budget. It’s not easy finding cheap, good quality jewelry ~ but I lucked out when I found these fabulous 1928 brand jewelry sets at Kohl’s. It's priced as $19.99 a set, but I had been waiting for a fabulous sale, and a couple weeks ago they went down to $9.99 plus 30% off for Kohl’s card members, which I am!!! So I got these for $7.00 each As of this past weekend they were still $9.99 a set which I think is a great deal for such cute jewelry. There are also tons of other color combos ~ my wedding colors are canary yellow, latte brown, terracotta, and hints of red. So these worked out perfectly ~ although I did purchase 2 sets that I thought were adorable to just add to my own jewelry collection! The shoes are all purchased from 6pm.com and I was amazed at how I was able to find shoes that were decorated with jewels of my exact color combinations and for great prices. I’ve got 3 BMs each wearing one of the colors (canary, latte, terracotta) so I’ve got them all with the applicable matching shoes. Aside from these shoes, which are for the reception and pics, I also purchased each girl a pair of $2 flip flops from Old Navy (either in pearl white, or copper brown) for comfort of course! With Old Navy I had a 20% coupon and a $20 off coupon for being a cardholder. Another great deal!!! Basically ~ my advice is to search, search, search and don’t buy anything without a coupon or discount ~ there are tons of coupons and sales out there that can really help you save!!!! Now onto the pictures.... My daughter's set: For other MOH and BM in canary: For BMs in Latte: For BMs in Terracotta:

WOW ~ Your flowers are absolutely gorgeous!!!!

Your products are awesome!!!

I can understand why your husband would be reluctant to drive, during our wedding site visit in June 08 FI, myself and my daughter got pulled over on our first night at the checkpoint just outside Playa del Carmen. Our car was circled by 3 police officers with machine guns ~ they claimed that our car first fit the description of a car they were looking for (I'm sure a lie), then said our tags had expired , then were in disbelief when I told them I didn't speak Spanish (I am often mistaken for being Latina although I'm Filipino ). When they saw we weren't giving in -- FI didn't pull out his wallet -- they got discouraged, made some half-ass apology and let us go. We were freaked out the rest of the week, but never got pulled over again. A good friend of ours who owns a van transportation service in Playa del Carmen then told us that the local authorities are not allowed to give tourist traffic tickets, no matter what they say. They're just trying to scare you and get money out of you, but stay strong and do not give in, and eventually they'll let you go. Nevertheless, getting pulled over is a bit scary and intimidating. But despite that, renting your car is really a great way to get around the area because it affords you the freedom of 24/7 convenience and is quite affordable. And, because most of the travel is done on Highway 307 ~ its really just a matter of noticing the speed limits and driving cautiously. Now if you're not trying to rent a car, the cheapest ways to go are collectivos (carpool vans) and the public bus system. Both are generally available in the centers of town, or off the highway. But it's really a wait and see type deal ~ no real set schedule and can sometimes be quite crowded. But definitely affordable. Hope that helps ~ and again, there are tons of options out there. Good luck and happy travels, I'm sure you will have a fabulous time out there

Sherry, I know I already said this in your previous pic post but I can't say it enough ~ your photos are amazing and you look absolutely flawless and stunning!!! Congrats once again

Simply beautiful!!! Your looked gorgeous And wow what an amazing turnout for your wedding ~ how many guests did you guys have??

such a cute and thoughtful gift! BDW members are the best *** late addition --- Wait you've got a second one on the way?? CONGRATS!!!!!

Yay, Happy Birthday Casey ~ hope your day is perfect!!!!

You're in luck, the RM area is full of great snorkeling sites, which is why it's one of my favorite vacation spot! Some of my favorites are: - Xel-Ha (sort of a natural amusement park - this is a haven for snorkeling but there is an entrance fee so check their website) - Paamul (awesome low key place with just one main restaurant on the beach and virtually no crowds) - my personal favorite Akumal (snorkel in the main bay and you'll see groups of turtles, it's awesome and the reef with tons of fish and marinelife is wonderful about 150 feet out!!!). - Also in Akumal is YalKu Lagoon, which is a small scale version of Xel Ha and about $9 for a day's worth but much less commercialized. I havent snorkeled in Yal Ku, but from what I've heard it's spectacular! Hope that helps!!!

Looks like such a fun time, and I LOVE the vibrant color of your dress it compliments you so nicely!!

Yep, I'm a true believer that everything happens for a reason ....Congrats on getting your first choice, here's to a perfect path of planning from here on out

I like 6pm.com , endless.com or limewire.com ~ in that order!! Shipping prices on each are either free or very cheap!!!! Good luck

Dress ~ gorgeous! Bride ~ beautiful! Wedding site ~ perfect! Pictures ~ fabulous! Review ~ awesome! Cheers to the newlyweds

YOOO HOOOO, Mrs. Christensen......YOUR TTD PICS are sexy and fabulous!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by mexicobride2009 MarieSam - I LOVE your quote on your siggy!!! LOL hehehehehe thanks It's what I say to FI when I don't feel like working out, which he responds to by rolling his eyes, lol.

For all the brides-to-be still trying to decide on a wedsite ~ I just noticed that Wedding Window has a great special going on right now for the holidays!! It's $10 off their regular hosting prices, making it $69/year and $89/18-months. It doesn't say when the offer expires but it's listed as a holiday special so I'm assuming it'll be gone before the holidays are over. Wedding Window is a great wedsite and I've been very happy with its user-friendly format and the features offered.

Oh my, you and your daughter are absolutely gorgeous!!! Actually your entire wedding party looked picture perfect You have so many wonderful pics to choose from, but I must say the one where you're wiping DH's tears is priceless ~ Congrats girlie it looks like you had a perfect day of bliss

#2 all the way!!!!!!

Awesome job, it all looks so polished and professional!! You've inspired me to try this out

AN UPDATE --- Ok well not much of an update, but FI went to meet with the background investigator and everything went well. He answered a 100+ questionnaire about his past/experiences and the investigator said it looked really clean and good. He got sent home with a extensive packet to fill out that's due back in a litte more than a week which will get the ball rolling on a thorough background check where they talk to past neighbors, relatives, employers, etc. -- basically everybody and their momma, lol. Then he'll take a polygraph and psychological evaluation exam. So as I had expected he's on the right track and the possibility of him getting accepted into the academy looks good. He didn't wanna ask the investigator about our possible "wedding conflict" because it would seem too presumptuous in assuming that he'll get through the recruitment process. So me being crafty, sent a random email to their recruitment officer asking how long the process would take from the time he takes the written test and physical exam to the time he gets accepted into the academy. He sent me back a thorough response, but bottom line was 2 to 4 months, then about a month before he would enter the academy. *sigh* yep that means he could possibly be in the midst of the academy right around our wedding date. I cried of course and have been depressed, but FI says that I need to stop worrying about stuff that hasn't happened and that we'll deal with it when the time comes. He assured me that our plans would happen no matter what and that we'd work it out somehow ~ the man is certainly a calming influence and the voice of reason when I have my "freakouts". Anyhow I am trying my best not to think about it, and just praying that things will work out for the best. Thank you again ladies for all your kind words of support ~ it means so much Quote: Originally Posted by Mrs. Martin Every department is different, like you said, because my hubby's academy was 8-9 months (LAPD). Good luck with everything and keep us posted. By the way, we are almost neighbors now. Now that I got married, I moved to my hubby's house in Downey and Cerritos isn't too far away! Hi neighbor!!! Downey and Cerritos are close ~ we should set up a local BDW brides meet, it would be so much fun. I actually work as a overnight News Reporter in the press room at the LAPD Headquarters in downtown LA ~ yep the ghetto ass Parker Center, lol. How does your DH like the LAPD, and which station does he work at? I write about all the overnight crime in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties, so I know how dangerous LAPD patrolled areas can be ~ do you ever worry about him being on the job?? I have a feeling I'm going to be a worrywart if FI enters law enforcement...

Quote: Originally Posted by KLC77 Hey MarieSam, did you buy the inserts for the boxes as well or just the boxes? Hey Kelly, yanno I didn't pick those up. I contemplated it but from what I recall I was just too cheap to spend the extra $15, tee hee The boxes though are the perfect size and I don't see the cupcakes moving around to much inside of them. I figured the inserts were mostly good for presentation purposes, but since my guests will be using these to bring home leftover cupcakes they probably wouldn't give a crap whether they were still "pretty", lol I'll make sure to take a pic of the assembled box later today and post it so you can see it's size, dimensions, etc.

*sigh* we should all make a song about RSVP's and how wedding guests just don't seem to respect their significance. Well we began sending out our DIY boarding pass STD's and initial "reply card" which we labored over for hours, days, weeks about late September. They have continued to go out sporadically as I gathered addresses of our roughly 150+ guests ~ HA intimate wedding my ass. So about 100 STD's have been sent out and despite not listing any "return this card by _____" date and simply asking that they be returned "at your earliest convenience," the reply postcards have actually trickled in sporadically. A couple days ago my daughter racked up the guests count and we're up to about 70 people. ~ again this is supposed to be a wedding with only our closest family and friends. I guess we're "close" to a lot of people But needless to say, I am unhappy because most of these reply cards have come from FI's side of the family. I've probably received about 3 or 4 of them from my people. My own freaking aunts and uncles who are staying in the villa with us haven't sent them back despite me telling them that I've got a system and am trying to keep organized. Yeah, doesn't matter to them EVEN THOUGH THERE's ALREADY A FREAKING STAMP ON IT!!! My frustrations have been met with my Mom saying in her funny Filipino accent...."Filipino people don't believe in RSVPs MarieSam". *sigh* great so now its a cultural thing and I guess my people have little regard for the courtesy of an RSVP. aye aye aye, it really shouldn't be this hard...