kevsgirl

Quote: Originally Posted by MsShelley Everything looks wonderful. Have an amazing time! THANK YOU!!! Quote: Originally Posted by Virg Congratulations!!! I hope you have a fabulous wedding!!! BDW OTTAWA meet up soon! Definitely!!! I'm totally in!

Jewelry: All from the Bay. Approximately $80 for all. I got some good discounts. The necklace is Roots and I put it on a different chain. I don't have time to take pics and upload them now They are crystal and like pavé style. THe necklace is in the shape of a heart (very small) and the earrings are like drops. Nice and sparkly OOT bags: Purchased from cheaptotes.com I wish I had bought 24 instead of 12. I underestimated our number of guests and then had to re-order. The printable transfer paper was way cheaper when I bought it by the page through cheaptotes than when I went to the store here. Definitely wish I’d bought more through cheaptotes. Order arrived very quickly. Going in the OOT bags: - Sudoku/word puzzle books +pencils - Magazine (whatever I had laying around the house – Self, US, etc.) - Breath mints and a pack of gum - Notebooks from Michael’s - Bottles of Aloe vera gel we filled ourselves - Magnetic picture frames and Playa del Carmen postcards – provided by our very own Katrina from BDW. (Thanks again!) - First Aid kits (pic below) - The cutest little Tropical themed luggage tags Little binder with a few sheets in it – our Meet the Guests pages - the file is uploaded in this thread http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t32184 and a map of the area. Crap! I forgot the welcome letter. Oh well. I'm running around vacuuming like crazy and trying to tidy up. We leave at 9am tomorrow, so we have to go to the airport at around 6am. It's already 10:30. I don't think we'll be done with everything much before 12. I haven't been to the gym in 4 days and have been stress eating. But in less than 24hours we'll be in Mexico! Thank you all for all your help and advice. I'll add to this because I know I've forgotten stuff. Thanks! See you all when I get back! Program.doc Ceremony Text - Kevsgirl.doc

Another DIY project: I made these tanks for my sisters (and myself). Bought at Giant Tiger for $3 each and the iron-on crystals were from Walmart (about $15 worth) Bridal Beauty: I went to the new beauty store at Place D’Orleans, Murale , last week and had a makeover. I purchased half of the items and the rest I got cheaper at Shopper’s. Among the great stuff I purchased was a fabulous foundation (Cargo), 2 great cream eyeshadows by Bobbi Brown that literally will not wipe off at all or crease or move (!), and a nice bronzer also by Cargo. I also love the lipgloss by Smashbox that I bought. Now I just have to practice! Hair inspiration: I plan to wear a hair flower under the veil and the veil over the updo. My veil is very basic. I bought it from an internet seller and it was $25. It’s 1 tier, about 32†long and plain cut edge. I wish I’d bought something a bit bigger, but too late now! My beautiful hair flower from Mikyae (Etsy): My shoes (Coloriffics Amber pumps): purchased from Amazon.com Groom Suit Purchased at Mexx in August. It was the only one in that colour left in the city, I swear. We had a hell of a time finding a light suit. We got it for about $115 on sale. Him modeling it with the tie he'll be wearing, but he has a white shirt for the wedding! Shoes: Sanuk Men's Paisano Sandal Shoe, ordered from Amazon.com. Approximately $70. They are too small, so we’re trying to stretch them out. They are cute and surfer-ish. Very light and comfortable (if they fit!)… Pre-wedding brochure: This took me forever to make. I did it all in Word in the end. Our Ceremony programs: All materials are from Michael’s. I love the corner punch! Ceremony fans: Ordered from OTC. I sucked at wrapping the ribbon. Afterward, someone posted a great how-to. It was too late. And I was too tired to re-do them!

The Dress I found my (1st) dress in May, with a friend. It was a beautiful ivory lace strapless dress from Alfred Angelo. I purchased it in August and picked it up in October. Unfortunately, I decided that I wasn’t comfortable with the way it looked on me. I’m now trying to sell it. I talked about my issues surrounding this decision in the December 2008 bride’s thread. In late October, I went out looking frantically for another dress. Luckily, I found an amazing dress that I absolutely adore! I went with my FMIL and my sister (one of my BMs). This is me right after I found it, in the store They only had it in a size too big and in white. There wasn’t enough time to order it so I bought it right off the rack. I’m in love with it! And me at my second fitting! It's made by Raylia. The fittings were brutal - that's a whole other story. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be ok with some double-sided tape on the straps, after 5+ fittins, $400 and a lot of stress. Oh and it has like 15 bustles... LOL! Bridesmaids My bridesmaids are my 2 sisters. My friends and FI’s friends took so long to even RSVP that we didn’t want to ask people to be in our wedding party and then be disappointed. Even FI’s brother was wishy-washy about attending the wedding, so he won’t have anyone standing up for him. My sisters will just stand on either side of us. They’ve been great since the beginning about the wedding (although they were terrible at deciding on a dress and getting one in the summer!). BM Dresses: Finally in September I gave my sisters a style that I liked and they went and tried it on. They loved it, fortunately, but it was really late at that point to order them in. I ordered them online through Find Special Occasion Dresses, Flower Girl Dresses, Bridesmaid Dresses & More!. They were VERY helpful via email and I got them for $116 each US. With the shipping costs (one to Canada and one to Australia) and the terrible exchange rate at the time, they ended up being almost the same price they would have been in the store, but I would have had to pay taxes on top of that and pay for expedited shipping from the warehouse in the US. I figure that I saved about $60-$100 overall this way. And I had peace of mind. The dresses are Mori Lee Affairs. I actually found them because another BDWer posted her party in a thread. Here’s the other BDW inspiration pic. And then my sister modelling her dress (it’s fully altered – it was 4 sizes too big. They did a great job!): Accessories The BM shoes I got from Amazon.com for a crazy discount. They were regularly $70 and I bought them for $24 each with free shipping to the US! They are Kenneth Cole Reaction. I have a thread out there for all the shoes (I think it's called Shoe Extravaganza) Hair inspiration for the BMs: DIY Hair flowers I made for my BMs: I posted a how-to thread on making these because it took a lot of trial and error to get such an easy job right! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t32937

I know we all end up saying the same thing, but it’s amazing how fast the time flies when you’re planning a wedding. I can’t believe it’s almost my turn! It’s been a bit of whirlwind since the summer. FI proposed on March 1st, 2008 and we started planning our DW in April. 8 months in and we’re nearly there. I’m so happy that we chose to get married in the Caribbean and can’t wait to finally get to Playa del Carmen and see our resort! So without further ado, here’s my planning thread! I hope it’s as fun for you guys as it was for me to put together! The Proposal (and the Rings!) FI proposed to me in a very weird way. I hope to write up our engagement story and post it on the forum. At any rate, I was quite surprised even though I had already picked out the E-ring that I loved. It was on the way back from a really great dinner out in Gatineau at the L’Orée du Bois. FI got down in on one knee in the snow. When we got home, we took some pics with the camera on timer. This one became our ‘unofficial’ engagement pic The ring, with my wedding band. Both are from People’s jewellers Our wedding bands. I bought FI’s band online from POMPEII3 JEWELRY It was about $195 and is 18K yellow gold. The same band at a store in town would have cost me easily $400. Great service, quick delivery and an amazing price and selection for gold bands. Check it out! I highly recommend the site. The Resort We chose Mexico because half of my family lives in Australia and it was the easiest ‘halfway’ point in the Caribbean. FI had also been there and thought that the Mayan Riviera was a gorgeous area. After reading lots of reviews, we settled on the Viva Wyndham Azteca resort for our wedding. Then we went to Cuba together (my first ever time at an AI resort). When we got back, I really felt that I was more comfortable with a smaller, more intimate setting. We went back to looking through TripAdvisor reviews and found the Shangri-La Caribe. It was really highly rated, with lots of repeat customers. And admittedly, the name sold me We’re staying in a Gardenview Superior (but FI just told me the other day that he’s upgraded us to ocean view!) I also found on BDW that Sol and her husband had filmed a wedding at Shangri-La. It was beautiful. Check it out! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t4276 Looking through that online album of another wedding at the Shangri-La really confirmed that the look of the resort was what we both would love. Here’s the ceremony set-up for the wedding, which will take place on the beach The pool bar where we’ll have our cocktail hour after the ceremony: There's more...

SUPER FUNNY! Thanks! I needed the stress relief and so did FI.

Quote: Originally Posted by BlissfulMsMiranda I should have gone running this morning but I just couldn't bring myself to wake up early and I'm way too busy at work to even take a lunch today so I can't do it then either. I feel like such a failure when it comes to exercise sometimes. *sigh* I'm going bowling tonight ... can't really call that cardio though. I don't know ... I'm sticking to my nutritionists diet, but I don't know if I'll be able to pull off my goal in the next 5 months!!! Don't get down on yourself, Miranda, that's the easiest thing to suck all your motivation from you! When you get into working out more regularly, you'll love it and keep it up. Being tired and stressed doesn't help at all. Your goal is huge and far away. Maybe it would help to have some smaller goals so you can reward yourself more often for making them? Quote: Originally Posted by BachataBride I am VERY proud today to say that I DID got to Zumba last night & I feel awesome!!! It is not quite as good (IMO) as the one I was going to in Brampton...but I still sweated my ass off!! This one is more hip hop-ish...where as the one in B-town was more latin style. But this is only my first class...so maybe she mixes it up. In any case it is soooo much fun!! Sweet! Good for you! I was off all day yesterday and didn't exercise. I'm up to 3 days off now so I have to go today. I'm waiting for my stomach to settle and I'll head to the gym. I'm off again today. I did do a bunch of other stuff yesterday though. I finally found my jewelry. Thank god. That was hellish. Quote: Originally Posted by Angela139 I got up at 5:40 am and did 30 minutes of cardio, 30 minutes of weights - and I'm exhausted! lol I guess this should get better once my body gets used to this though, right? Definitely! Although I find that the first 5-10 mins is the hardest for me during cardio. Also, 5:40am is super early! Are you getting to sleep early enough?

Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 Oh and then wait until you start TTC if that is in the plans! Then it's really va va voom! Rrrrraarrrr!!!! Yep! We are not bringing protection on the trip....

Quote: Originally Posted by Kits55 I LOVE this! It's so great! Where did you get the pictures for the backgrounds? How do you make the boxes to show over the background? I just googled images of Mexico and found some that I loved. When you want a text box to show over the background, you have to right click on the box and click on "bring to the front" or for its position make it "in front of text".

Quote: Originally Posted by ErinB In a week you are going to be on a beach getting married! Once you're all dolled up in your dress or liquored up off the free booze you are going to be so hot! I don't think you have anything to worry about. Get ready for the honeymoon phase! You are sooooo right

Of 19 invitations we got back about 6 RSVPs total. I found out about a month ago that one guy had booked back in Sept without ever receiving and invitation or RSVP'ing (he's technically my sister's guest). I also just had 2 people book last week (we're getting married next Friday). As much as it's hard, try to relax about it and definitely ask your guests, but don't expect them to offer the information. LOL! It's completely ridiculous. I think I"m at the point right now where I am starting to realize that it's completely ridiculous and have to laugh instead of raging. LOL!

This is a sore topic for me Mostly because to begin with, I've never liked showers. I always thought they looked like gift-grabs and were boring. But then my wedding came along... and people wanted to throw me showers. People who are invited, but they invited people who weren't invited. It goes against what I think should be done, but we are in the same situation as you in that we only invited about 25 people total. We wanted a very small wedding. People in town who werne't invited, who wouldn't have been able to go even if they were, wanted to celebrate with us. So - IDK. I guess it really depends on your relationship with the people who are on the guest list. As long as they are close/old friends people you know want to share this kind of experience with you and know that they are important to you, go for it. And acknolwedge how fabulous they are for coming. I really enjoyed seeing so many people from different times of my life come together. It was a great experience. And I fully intend on bringing them back together for a party of some kind afterward to share the wedding photos with them and celebrate with them

clowns: Stephen King

I confess that I feel gross, fat, and completely desireless right now for FI. And I feel guilty about that, because I know that it's just stress, but if I just was in the mood I'd feel better and so would he!

Quote: Originally Posted by IslamoradaBride Kevsgirl, I love that dress on you! It is breathtaking. Thanks!!! Only a week until I get to wear it Let's hope it fits still

Hi! I got my BM dresses at Find Special Occasion Dresses, Flower Girl Dresses, Bridesmaid Dresses & More! I got a great price and they were really quick about emailing me and shipping them off. They have the inside line to the Mori Lee warehouse, so they were able to say what the warehouse had in stock and they got what I needed within 1 week and shipped it within 2 (even my sister in Australia received hers within 2 weeks) Then my BMs had about a month to do their alterations. One of them had to alter a dress down 4 sizes and it looks fantastic! It's also easier if you're not too pick about your colours. THey were Mori Lee Affairs collection. Here's one of my BMs in the dress that was altered down 4 sizes:

Thanks girls! Christi (WSUGal) fixed it up for me. It's perfect She washed out the background, so it's faint. I'm SAVED!

Hi there! I would totally love to help you out, but I"m at crunch time right now - we leave in 3 days! I won't be back until the 15th of December and Canada Post workers are on strike... so I would worry it wouldn't get to you. There are a few other CDN girls on this site. PM them - there are 2 Heathers, etc. Good luck! If you still need help when I get back, PM me and maybe you can make her up a little 'gift certificate' for when they arrive?

Quote: Originally Posted by BachataBride I hate all of you!! Just kidding - I'm actually very jealous!!! I know my wedding is in 6 weeks, but why can't I get my ass to the gym, or to a workout class, or even just outside for walk!! Everyday this thread pops up in my subscriptions and I can't help but thinking "NO...I didn't effing exercise today!!" But at least it puts it in my mind. Tomorrow...that's it...I'm going to Zumba! Will somebody please stay on my ass about this!!?? I sooooo know what you're saying. I was/am doing ok, but I was going every 2nd day and then once in a while I slack to once every 3rd day. I seriously don't know if I even fit in my dress! I only have a week to go! All I want to do is eat ice cream. I think I'm bloated too BOOOOOOO!!! GET YOUR ASS TO THE GYM!!! I'm off work today to shop and to last-minute stuff, but I need to go to the gym too. Kick my ass too now!

I love #1! But if you want more colour, #4 is my 2nd favorite

self approval: smile!

Hey! Fun! I don't have any from my last fitting, but I'll post some mid-fitting... Here's the model: Here is me when I first bought it and then in the 2nd fitting, after removing the brooch:

Simistar and Ra'Shunda - have a wonderful time!!! I can't wait to hear all about your special days. I'm 8 days left and counting. I'm off work tomorrow and Friday and fly out on Sunday morning. It's going to be so fun to swap stories when we're all back.

Does anyone know about a Canadian option like this? I'd love to put our address in and eliminate a good % of the stuff we receive but all of these sites are for US.

Yay!!! and congratulations on booking Chanti!!! That's the best and such a relief!