BlissfulMsMiranda

Thank you SOOOOO much ladies ... Quote: Originally Posted by Shay2679 Can I ask how much he would charge to do BD shoots for...me?! Shay, I've asked my photog what he'd charge and he said he'd get back to me ASAP on it .. that was his very first time doing a shoot like that (not bad, eh?). He specializes in weddings usually which is why he's my wedding photographer too!! But, I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from him! Would you want to do it before your wedding? It's coming up soon for you too!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by 4therestofmylife Another Montrealer joins the club!! I'm quite new to this...its all somewhat overwhelming right now. And I'm new to Montreal as well so I have no clue where to start locally!! Quote: Originally Posted by BellaBeachBabe Hi! I'm from Montreal too! So that makes 4 of us lol!!! Woohoo!!! Way to represent Montreal!! And congrats to you both ... I'm nearing the end of my planning now ... if you guys have ANY questions, just let me know!!

Aw, thanks ladies!!!! I was so worried about how the shots would turn out! Question though: What "title" did you girls who have done BD shoots give your book? I'm really stuck on what to put on the cover .....

That's it!!

Hi ladies!!! So, I finally did it ... after months of stressing and second-guessing my decision to do a BD shoot as a gift for my FI, I finally did it. Not to mention the date of the shoot was changed so many times, I can't even count how many (my BD photographer is also my wedding photographer and he's booked most weekends for weddings as it is here in Montreal). Yes, I said HE. I notice on here that most of you have female photographers for your BD shoots and I totally understand why, however, my photographer, Alain Doss, was the best choice I ever made. Granted, it was a bit awkward at first (he's a close friend, his daughter is even our flower girl and him and my FI work together shooting weddings every now and then), but once I got over my fears and realized that he'll be seeing me in much less on the beach (bikini) in a few weeks then it was all a breeze. Not to mention I had my MOH, honorary bridesmaid and his wife there with me ... MOH was there for moral support, honorary bridesmaid is my makeup artist and Alain's wife is always his artistic director so she had to be there to "pose" me! LOL All in all it was a stellar experience, a few glasses of wine later with the music blaring and I was totally into it! Oh, and we didn't rent a hotel room or anything, I was at a friend's apartment and her decor is very modern and now so it worked out perfectly. As for the results, I have to say I'm pretty pleased. I'm not at my "ideal" weight, but I have to say ... I think I look pretty hot. LOL Alain just handed me a CD of all the raw images today, so I have to go through and pic 20-25 that I like so he can tweak them before I put together my Apple Photobook ... these are just a few that I chose to show you girls - I haven't done anything to them (no photoshopping or anything), just added a border and "Doss Studios" to the bottom. Enjoy ladies!! MORE TO COME!!

So, I just posted in the Oriental Trading Company thread about shipping times from Canada, but upon calling them and asking about ship times, then almost placing an order, I realized it wasn't the shipping TIME that was the problem, but the the shipping COST. For me to get my items in 2 weeks (or longer) I have to pay $45 in shipping alone!!! And that doesn't count the exchange rate on the actual order ... for 3 items (dozen of each) it cost me $70 CDN!! That's a bit steep for what I ordered ... (sticky notes, pens and fans) So, I'm wondering if anyone knows of a Canadian equivalent to OTC? Or a store that carries the raffia fans in Ontario/Quebec? At this point I'm willing to drive into Ontario to get the items if any of you Ont girls know Thanks ladies!

Quote: Originally Posted by mfry Here is my dress for my welcome dinner and AHR. I love it!!!! I plan on getting it in white. Michelle Wow that's absolutely gorgeous! Where did you find that?

OMG amazing planning thread!! And you're three days away!!! WOOHOO!!!

Rather than start a new thread about OTC I thought I'd jump on this bandwagon. But instead of asking about specific products, I'm wondering about ship time? I'm ordering from Canada (so fellow Canadian BDWers feel free to chime in!) and I know I have VERY little time left and should have done this before ... but do they ship quickly? Like, if I order this week (tonight) can I expect to receive my loot before we leave on May 8th?! Thanks ladies!!!

My mother was the SAME way. She freaked out when I told her what I wanted to do with my dress ... called me crazy, disrespectful (my grandmother, her Mum, paid for my wedding dress) and wondered how I could even think to do that!!Plus she has some crazy " plan" for the dress after the wedding - God knows what that is ... Anyways ... I let it slide in the beginning ... didn't bring it up too often and didn't fight back when she said I was crazy. Instead, I just let the idea sit with her ... she'd bring it up every now and then, asking if I was still "crazy" and then I showed her some TTD pics and showed her how nice it could really look ... and I also showed her some posts from girls on here who have said the ocean actually CLEANED their dresses!!! Then she changed her tune and started to say the ocean was fine, she just didn't want me jumping in chlorinated water with the dress on. Hehehe So, I think you should give her time to warm up to it. Don't fight her on it ... show her pics, some posts from girls on here and explain that you aren't actuallt TRASHING the dress ... like lighting it on fire or anything. LOL I think the name throws a lot of mothers off ... Good luck though! And remember: In the end, this is YOUR day. It took me much too long to realize that ... do what YOU want and know that no matter what decision you make, your Mum is family and she's going to love you just the same at the end of the day, covered in sand and salt water or not. ;-)

Yeah mine is this weekend too ... and I never considered giving a gift! I think maybe if you wanted, a simple thank-you card after the fact would be good ...

I just had my BD shoot yesterday ... and it was pretty nerve-racking in the beginning ... but after I loosened up a bit (with the help of some red wine) I just kind of fell into poses ... and after looking at SO many BD shots on BDW and the internet ... I kind of knew what I wanted and was able to communicate to my photographer who was awesome. So, I think the less you "think" about it ... the better it is. I mean, go in with a few ideas, but otherwise just let it flow and see how it goes! If you have a good photog your shots are going to be gorgeous regardless. I'll have a full report of the experience when I have some proofs to show at the same time ...

Quote: Originally Posted by jax_the_beach_bride U bet ur bottom I'm freaking out! BM isn't answering his phone and HAS NOT booked his flight yet!!! I keep getting FI to call him but there is only so much we can do! FI said he wishes we just went somewhere on our own to get married because he is starting to stress to! Who ever said a DW was stress free is lying! LOL I'm totally with you - our best man is in CHINA ... and we have no idea when he's coming home AND he's always on the move so we can't call him he has to call us!!!!!! IT STRESSES ME OUT TO NO END!!!!! Quote: Originally Posted by Cattie Besides the fact I may kill the FI before we get married. Apparently he doesn't understand MY vision of this wedding. I want him in flipflops! not leather loafers!! I learned quite quickly that FI will NEVER have the same vision as me. Ever. *sigh*

Thanks to one of the BDW girl's wedding slideshow I was turned on to this New Zealand singer Brooker Fraser and I came across this song: YouTube - Brooke Fraser - Without You Music Video And I just think it's an awesome wedding first dance song, or even a song to use in your wedding pic slideshow! Her voice is awesome as well ... her other songs are great too (Check out "Love is Waitin" I'm obsessed with it, and that's the song from the BDW girl's slideshow).

You look gorgeous and you're both glowing!! I love your dress (very similar to mine, is it a Mori Lee?) Congrats!!

That's amazing!!! It's so well done and you guys look like you had SO much fun!! Thanks so much for sharing.

Ooh these are really nice too: IKEA | SOLIG | Gardening bag From the same line!! And they're only $2.99! (In CDN dollars, so probably cheaper for your US ladies!)

^^^ Aww why are we all so stressed??!!! Us May brides should be excited and happy our wedding days are so close!!! Can your guests tickets be transfered to another airline? They shouldn't leave you stranded and usually offer options. Try calling the airline up yourself if you don't trust your TA ... that's what I would do. As for the dress - I'm leaving mine with the seamstress until the weekend of May 1st. It seems extreme, but if I suddenly lose like 5 lbs in the last week, I want her to be able to fix it JUST before I leave on the 8th! So, I'd say, leave yours there till a week before you depart. Then you can do a final fitting with her and if there are still changes to be made, they should only be minor, and she'll have a few days to fix them and you can pick it up JUST before you leave. Does that make sense?

My drama is nothing compared to Ayita's (and I am SO sorry you had to go through all of that so close to your wedding date!) ... But I decided to ask our TA if she could bug the wedding coordinator at our resort about the size and locale of the arches on the beach etc so I could think up some more decoration ideas (I don't know if any of you girls saw: I Love You, Man the movie, but the wedding scene has these GORGEOUS crystal and flower hanging things that I just fell in love with ...). Anyways, so I email her and I just got a response this morning telling me that there aren't BEACH wedding ceremonies available at our resort. Um. WTF? That was the whole point of this wedding and something we specifically asked out TA to ENSURE we could do at the resort we chose and she assured us we could. So, now I'm on my TA's ass to bug the hell outta the wedding coordinator to make it happen ANY way she can. Apparently the beach is narrow when the tide is high and that makes it impossible to do a beach wedding, however there's a gazebo BY the beach ... um, that's nice but not at ALL what I had in mind. I'm stressing out MAJORLY not to mention there are still a ton of things I still have to do ... my OOT bags aren't anywhere near getting done, the best man is still in China and has no clothes and my dress still doesn't fit right.

Thanks ladies! I really like the idea of a blue shirt too ... and I'm pretty sure our best man will have the same outfit (and no, he hasn't gotten it yet because he's currently in China and might not be home till a few days before the wedding ... **panic**). Quote: Originally Posted by deefalvey good job...FI and groomsmen attire is next on my list of things for him to get done. It stresses me out! Yeah, it stressed me out too ... but I learned early on that nagging him about it didn't help the situation ... so I left everyone ELSE bug him (i.e., his Mum, my Mum, our friends, hehehehe).

So, I thought I'd revive this thread and let you all know that after many weeks of trying to get rid of my blotches and red marks with dry patches on my poor arms (and trying quite a few suggestions from the posts above) I think I have FINALLY found a solution: Eucerin. It's a moisturizer, but an INTENSE moisturizer. And it's hypo-allergenic, no color, no scent, nothing fancy ... just super-intense in the moisture department and it helps lock in the moisture and helps your skin create its own again. I've been using it for 2 days only and I already see results. My dry patches are almost completely gone and the redness is fading ... 2 days!!!! For anyone suffering from dry, itchy patches (that aren't psoriasis but from dry winter air/anxiety etc.) I highly recommend this product. It was approx. $20 CDN for a big bottle in my local Pharmaprix.

Woohoo!!! Awesome purchase! I told FI to get in on that H&M line ... but one of our guests got there first (a really close friend) and he told us we weren't "allowed" to shop there for Colin's clothes as he already bought out that entire line for the trip. :-p I love a light-blue shirt with the light pant ... awesome! It's gonna look so nice on the beach!

Alright, so slowly my list of "to-dos" is getting smaller. This weekend was highly productive ... FI managed to get his entire outfit, which is gorgeous and I'm absolutely thrilled with his choice (I let him go it alone for that one, and was a bit skeptical it all, but it turned out great!). I also put together the welcome letter for the OOT bags, the OOT bag tags and the tags I'm putting on each pashmina, addressed to each girl individually. Those are all printed and cut to perfection but they need some bling so I'll be heading to the craft store at lunch today to see if I can find something to spruce 'em up. I'm also going for my THIRD fitting this Friday before I head off to T.O. for the weekend ... which makes this weekend a write off ... except that I have my BD photo shoot on Sunday and I'm freakin' out a bit about that one. **panic**

Quote: Originally Posted by Virg OMG! MIRANDA!! You have only 28 days left! Let me know if you need any help with anything! OMG I know!!! My heart skips a beat every time I see my counter. LOL There are just so many little things left to do ... and I'm running out of time to order things etc. I'm having a hard time putting together a special bag for my MOH. And our Best Man isn't even in Canada (he's in China right now) and we're not sure when he'll be back ... which means he hasn't gotten his clothing yet. *sigh* Like I said ... there are lots of "little" things that need to get done ... and I'm a little stressed about my dress as well, as the seamstress hasn't gotten it quite right yet, and again ... I'm runnin' out of time!!!! Just to know you and all the BDW girls are here to support me is plenty ... Thanks!

April 2009 Fudgie - April 13, 2009 - Sol Palmeras, Varadero Sarafish (Sara and Jeff) - April 18, 2009, Playa Pesquero, Holguin Erin0409 (Erin & Stuart) - April 29, 2009 Superclub Breezes, Jibacoa Pardisia (Karen & Mark) - April 22, 2009 Occidental Grand Playa Turquesa, Holguin May 2009 jax_the_beach_bride- May 8, 2009- Blau Varadero, Varadero BlissfulMsMiranda - May 12, 2009 - Melia Cayo Guillermo DWbride09 - May 21, 2009 - Sirenis La Salina, Varadero June 2009 Amelia & David - June 18 2009 - Iberostar, Varadero Oct 2009 LIW - October 28, 2009 - Melia Las Dunas Nov 2009 itsfinallyhere - mid-November 2009 - Sirenis La Salina, Varadero Blooroze (Beth) - November 25, 2009 - Iberostar Varadero Jan 2010 C & I - January 22, 2010(to be confirmed) - Playa Pesquero Feb 2010 Lori and Travis-February 14th, 2010-Barcelo Marina Palace March 2010 jackobelle - March 16th (ish) 2010 - Probably Blau Varadero May 2010 Krista & Josh (K'osh) - May 4, 2010 - Playa Pesquero June 2010 Stephanie&Luke - June 2, 2010 - Melia Las Dunas, Santa Clara