Amarillis

I am going to stick my neck out there a wee bit! 1st, your wedding is too far to be searching out BM dresses - We ended up with 2 different BM dresses because we planned too far in advacnce... the stress and drama is not worth it. .... that being said, at that price point I think they are cute - and wouldn't personally care about having to get another dress at a later date..... Secondly, You should have your dress before you pick BM dresses - this is key to putting together the look you want, You need to LOVE LOVE LOVE your bridal gown, whether it is fancy or casual - originally i thought I wanted casual, and fell in love with mine after... then the BM dresses needed to coordinate.... Don't put the cart before the horse!

I did my BD shoot with Lisa Mark from Lisa Mark Photography - she is a vendor on the boards here.. check out her blog, as she has many examples... (i'm in there too) Toronto Wedding Photographer - Lisa Mark Photography Lisa Mark shoots weddings, boudoir portraits, families and more in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ---scroll to the bottom and search by boudoir.... or on her website Toronto Wedding Photographer - Lisa Mark Photography ----check out gallery two I too was VERY nervous about the whole thing... but in the end it was an amazing and empowering experience. My DH LOVED LOVED LOVED his book and was completely surprised!

Those brochures are fantastic!!! Are you mailing out the towels too

I would definately say yes, I believe in tipping for any service... hair, nails, etc... I think tattoo's would count!

Quote: Originally Posted by geology_rocks My passport was delivered within 7 business days when I went into the office in person. I hope you're not responding to this thread because you're standing in line right now!!! Well said.... For our legal (Cuban) wedding, we needed to send copies of our passport 3 weeks in advance to the WC. MOVE IT!!!! Let us know how it all works out!

Congrats Ladies!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by BlissfulMsMiranda The vows that you read for the exchange of rings - you guys wrote that on your own? And you were able to give the notary specific things to read (like the poem?). And was the closing remark something you also gave to be read or was it already part of the legal ceremony? Thanks SO much for posting this!! No problem... I thought this would help a lot of you girls... I was really struggling with it before we left! All of the legal stuff is read by the notary... the rest of it was read by the WC (Sandra) at our resort - with the exception of the reading done by my aunt. It all went really smoothly, but I was sure to send the ceremony to the WC about two weeks before departure... just to ensure that she was cool with it.

Quote: Originally Posted by lolkitteh If they have received an invitation to the wedding, I see no reason not to also invite them to the shower, even if they choose not to come. I would not put someone on the shower guest list who did not/will not also receive an invitation to the wedding. You will *always* run the risk of appearing to be a gift-grabber when that happens. If you plan to have an AHR, I think that you can also invite someone who is invited the the AHR but not necessarily the DW. However, you might want to wait until you send your AHR invites or STDs before you invite anyone to the shower - that way, it doesn't create an awkward moment for someone who receives a shower invite but not a wedding invite. In summary, I believe the proper etiquette is to only invite people to your shower who have also been invited to the wedding and/or AHR. The only exception to this is perhaps an "office shower" type situation. I agree entirely! If they have received an invitation to the wedding the shower your at home reception stagette in my opinion, the invitiation to the wedding signals to everyone invited that other invites are coming... and, I don't think it is our place as brides to decide whom can/and cannot afford to go to our DW... thus I had 84 guests and the time of my life! *only exception is an office shower.... one cannot be expected to invite their entire office.

Great dress! And what a great offer for bringing in an unwanted BM dress! SCORE!

WOW... Kate! Your slideshow nearly brought me to tears! You were absolutley stunning! Congratulations fellow January 2009 bride!

WOAH! What an awesome offer for B2B's!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck to all entrants!

Great Picks Shelley!!!! I am really impressed with the grooms and groomsman shirts! And what a steal of a deal! Your 'going away' dress is really cute! Why wouldn't you use it as the TTD dress?

AHHH Lindsay!!!! - aka date twin! These pics are absolutely gorgeous!!!!! Looks like you had a fantastic time!!! Congrats my dear!`

Thanks a lot ladies.... I really put a lot into my BD book because it was such a big surprise for my DH Another big surprise that was included in the book/shoot was that I brought with me his highschool leather hockey jacket. Where we live hockey is really big and all the 'jock' type guys used to run the halls in their leather team jackets... with their last names printed on the sleeves. I was a band geek and we used to make fun of the 'jocks' - now... it is an inside joke between DH and I... so it was appropo that I toted along his hockey jacket... he laughed his face off at the idea.... but love that I was wearing nothing underneath it! lol.

"I was the girl with the business degree, probably wouldn't recognize me". I DO have an MBA... but this line is actually from a Kenny Chesney song titled 'the woman with you' - Chad is a huge country fan and when he first heard the song we had just gotten together. All of the pages of my BD book have unique and special song lyric quotes.... for example: Birds flying high You know how I feel Sun in the sky You know how I feel Breeze driftin' on by You know how I feel It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life For me And I'm feeling good When the sun sinks down over the water Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down

thanks for the compliments girls!!!!

OOOOHHH I'll Play!!!! Here is the cover of my BD book My BD book was extra fun, because my dad made a custom wooden box for the book. On the night before the wedding I gave him a key (it was on the keychain as pictured on the cover of the book) then I retired to my brother's suite for the night... when I walked away I remember turning around and seeing DH with a very puzzled look on his face. The next day I had my sister's boyfriend 'messenger' the locked box to our suite where FI was getting ready. His reaction was priceless... the pro-photographer took fantastic shots of his reaction. On the inside of the book the first page read the following: C, This is your new black book, at the end of the day today you'll have no use for your old little black book. You may remember a special emergency trip to Toronto, where I disappeared for an entire afternoon? In the pages to come the mystery will be solved, leaving us free of any secrets. I know that you would never expect it, "I was the girl with the business degree, probably wouldn't recognize me". You tell me I'm gorgeous everyday, and after putting this together for you, I think I agree - I'm pretty hot actually! See you at the end of the aisle... Ill be the one in the white dress, wearing blue panties... I love you, A. He was definately surprised.... Hope this provides some inspiration!

A lot of the mattings that I saw were made from super heavy cardstock! Just get a nice black sharpie (ultra fine point)

OH Honey.... just relax.... really just relax.... I'll tell you a little story... The two days prior to departure for our DW.... I thought I had EVERY sickness going! I had a complete anxiety attack at my dance class (head between the knees, breathing in my nose and out my mouth - steadily) followed by what I thought was a fever (achy, cold, hot, sweaty) outbreak, followed by itchy skin (I was determined that I was getting a rash), then my stomach started to make weird noises... so I took some Immodium... Then FI poured me a glass of wine and told me to chill out... Amazingly... it worked.... Everything will be fine... believe me. Best of luck in your last 3 months!

I was just at Micheal's last night and they have monster sized mattings.... try there - as long as the matting is not ridged and bumpy any photo mat should work... last night they were 50% off too!!!

Ahhh I see... to me having everything match was super important..... maybe try ebay

Lindsay!!!!! Date Twin!!!! Congratulations!!!! Where are all the pics!!!!!

You have my vote Amy!!!! Good luck! Keep us posted if you go on to round two!!!

Yepppers! Here is my experience though... In shopping out different TA's - I learned that if you opt not to have 'free trips' the price decreases for your guests. Our wedding $ with every 21st person booked one 'free' trip @$1400 per person Our wedding $ with without 'free' trip @$1100 per person SO... If we do some 'math-letics' - we had 84 guests total 84 guests x $1400 = $117,600 and 4 'free' trips valued at $5,600 84 guests x $1100 = $92,400 with no 'free' trips So, the 'free trips' would have cost our guests $25,200 extra, so that we could have $5,600 in 'free trip' Doesn't seem like such a deal.... We opted to have no free stuff.. but to keep the cost as low as possible so that we would have a big wedding group and a big wedding in Cuba.

Yep... I agree with some of the previous posts... >3 days - suitcase <4 days - unpack And I ALWAYS hang stuff in the closet, business suits, dresses etc.