SAM

Check out the "Alexander Valley- Sonoma Co". Not as $$ as Napa but still great. OTG can go to Napa if they wish. Alot of wineries in this area also offer free wine tours. I'm not a big fan of the Livermore Valley...wines are okay. I've had friends get married there and it's okay. Wente is $$$$$

I have to agree, Katrina's cake are really amazing. I work p/t for a catering house and I love when bride's order her cakes. Besides looking great, they ALWAYS taste great- moist, very fresh, and melts in your mouth. I would recommend her chocolate with raspberry filling. Hands down she is the best in the bay area.

We go to Lake Tahoe all the time, love it. To save $ I would recommend renting a house, condo or timeshare. We have a family timeshare in SOuth Lake Tahoe and swear by it. Very quiet and Romantic. The Casinos are nice but very crowded, heavy smoke (smokers), and over priced. Harvey's remodeled not to long ago.

2k should be enough. Gas is usually more but then again how far can you drive on the island.

Not sure where to start.

This whole wedding has become more of a dark black rain cloud over my head than a special day.

My FH and I have been together for 9 years so this is us making it legal and we are both only children so our parents really want to see this - we would rather have eloped

Ok, We are paying for the entire wedding. We (FH an I) made a pack that we would not go into debt over a wedding and would pay for it in cash. We aren't wealthy (He's in a trade and I work for a non-profit) and I just finished school (don't you just love those student loans). For several years I have work part time for a wedding caterer so I've seen everything. I wanted to run away from it all and just get married with sand in my toes and not really care about all the other stuff.

A list of the crazyness

1. My dad lost his job and has been out of work for a few months and I'm really starting to get worried that he won't be able to make it ( Parents are divorced). I'm not sure I am prepared to get married without my dad.

2. We are also paying for my mom to come to the wedding as she can't afford it (she basically told me she couldn't afford it so I told her I could pay her way).

3. My Maid of Honor can't make it- she got laid off from her job. I told her I understand but I'm really sad. She has been my Best Friend for 18 years and I really don't want anyone else in my wedding party.

4. The Family Member- Maybe everyone has that one family member who drives you up the wall! I love her but I really can't handle her comments anymore- she is very old school and speaks her mind... she treats me like I'm a five year old child. She even asked me to change my wedding date so she could fly to Hawaii on a specific date. Her and my dad don't get along at all so I have to worry about keeping them apart at our reception dinner.

With everything that has gone on and airfare is just insane I'm wondering if I made the right choice. Should we just cancel it and go to city hall? I'm fine with going to city hall but I worry about my guests and letting them down. My FH is fine with whatever and will back me 100%.

A few family members have already bought their aifare and I'm stressing.

I don't know if they are refundable airfare?

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the info

I'm looking for a musician for our ceremony. Future hubby is against a harpist and I'm not really sold on it either. Anybody know of a guitarist? So far I really like Jaime Lawrence. He has lots of samples

Hello fellow maui bound brides,

I starting to get ideas for my welcome bags for our guests.

Any ideas of items to include? I really want to keep the price down. Is anyone using regular gift bags? I need about 20. I've heard about the Maui Costco, any ideas?

Thanks

Tickets are horrible... about $930 each in April.

I have noticed that it goes down on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Check out Kayak as they check all sites. Good Luck to all

We were together for 8 years and will marry shortly before our 10 year anniversey.

We had planning a trip to Europe for over 1 year, our first time. We had just landed in Venice, Italy that early afternoon. After spending 2 hours looking for our hotel (what an experience that was),we wanted to wander the streets of Venice, relax and take it all in. My boyfriend on the other hand, had a different agenda

He wanted to go on a Gondola! When I found out it would have cost over over $150 USD, I wanted to wait....thought maybe we could find a better deal. After disappointment, My boyfriend was alittle stressed, then he began to act strange, very nervous, figet and began to fumble through his bag. At this point I still had no clue!

Now we've been together for eight years and I had never seen him like this. So we walked over to the "Porte Degli Scalzi Bridge", which over looks the Grand Canal (across from the train station). The sun was just starting to set, a light breeze in the air and My boyfriend started to tell me that he's been holding this for several months....................

Well he got down on one knee, held out this BEAUTIFUL antique designed ring and mumbled quickly "Will you marry me". I responded "Oh my god or Holy Crap". Then I said yes, with tears in my eyes.

I later found out he had bought the ring 4-5 months before our trip (buring a hole in his pocket). Everyone knew he was going to pop the question (Mom's, family, friend's, etc.) except me. I was shocked and no idea he was going to this. Venice will always hold a special place in my heart.

My name is Sam

Getting married on April 15th Tax Day

in Lahaina, Maui