GarlicBride

The minute I heard this on the radio my heart went out to all Mexico brides; this is so sad. Have a drink and try to limit your media immersion - it's all sensationalist crap - remember that "calm down, it's all okay" doesn't sell advertising whereas "run for your lives!" does! warm thoughts Hannah

I think you need to go right back and consider why you decided to have an AHR in the first place. Is it for family reasons (the grandparents feature in your earlier post), people who couldn't be there for the real thing (close family of good friend of groom), celebrating with colleagues (fella's platoon) or something entirely different? If it's all of the above which is the most important? Look at those reasons and decide which of the options you have is most true to those aims and go with that. It is the one you'll be able to live with afterwards and you'll be able to honestly tell people why you made the decisions you made. Whatever you choose to do in the end will be the right decision. Hannah

welcome to BDW!! You'll love it!

welcome to BDW!

ooh something a bit different! Welcome to BDW!

welcome to BDW!

welcome to BDW!

Hi, I begin with an apology, it's taken me about two months to get these posted on here, sorry!! Here are the photos, sorry if they are too big, I don't know how to re-size: I made a few changes from the general templates which are circulating: 1. I made a more formal "wallet" style holder for the tickets and used it to include directions and maps 2. I held all the passes together with "brads" 3. We included a "baggage tag" asking for song requests 4. Also included was a "frequent flyer card" which had details of our registry 5. I looked very carefully at lots of actual boarding passes so the layout and text use was similar; mine are based on Air Canada as they have English/French dual language. I saved a bit of cash by: 1. making them with a team of brilliant crafting friends! 2. Used white card stock and printed the brown colour on instead of buying brown stock; the price of a4 colour printing is the same if you have every bit covered in ink or just lettering. 3. Printed some of it at work!! I wish I'd known before I started: consider your envelope size FIRST!! We had to make ours as they are an odd size which was an extra pain and added nothing to the overall effect. We've had great feedback and I just want to do an oscar style thankyou to this forum and the people who've posted so helpfully on this matter previously; you are all great! It was the absolutely perfect dual language, destination wedding invite and although it was a lot of work it has been very much worth it. The file is attached, in publisher format, I hope someone finds it of use. take care Hannah x wedding invite 1.pub wedding invite 2.pub

aw that sounds like a brilliant idea!! And what a kind offer to help others to do this. Hannah

welcome to BDW! and CONGRATULATIONS!

I don't think there are any "rules" but most people seem to use the forename initial of the bride and groom. There's a great thread about how to make your own monogram here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t8310 welcome to the forum!! Hannah

welcome to the forum!!

welcome to the forum!

looks fantastic and you got it all for an amazing price!! Well done!!

Greeting ladies, I've found some bargain shoes on ebay to wear for my wedding day but it says they have a couple of marks on them - how easy would it be to get these out? Here they are: Rainbow Club Ivory Satin Wedding Shoes Dee - Size 7 on eBay, also Shoes, Bridal Accessories, Wedding Clothing, Clothes, Shoes Accessories (end time 23-Feb-09 19:26:36 GMT) I don't want to get bargain shoes then have to pay loads for professional cleaning! thanks in advance for you wisdom! Hannah

is the mylar paper essential? Could I use see through sticky-back plastic? It's just I've got some of that so it wouldn't be more expense - I'd only need a little bit. Do you think it would ruin it? Hannah

Quote: Originally Posted by fitnessfi Hello Hannah Sounds like you are going to have a great wedding! We are also doing a wedding weekend, as everyone is travelling from all over the world. We are not doing the legal bit in France as the paperwork is complicated and we wanted a easy life! LOL.... Im not using a wedding planner, although the lady that owns the chateau speaks french and is going to help organise the caterers etc. I am trying to make a lot of things to keep the budget down. Lucky for us we don't have to pay corkage, we are having a pay bar and providing guests with champagne drink, wine with the meal and toast drink, after that they can pay for their own!! I have picked the venue over the internet but not actually visited the chateau. I am travelling over to France in June with my mum to visit for the first time. I am really excited about it, as it looks lovely! Our date is June next year, which my H2B thinks is a long time away!! Here's the website for the venue, what do you think? Welcome to Chateau Dumas, large 18th century chateau South West France Fi x It looks lovely, very well kept and clean, sometimes those Chateaux can be a bit run-down but that one looks stunning. Also very French, your guests will be thrilled to stay there. Are you doing your actual ceremony at the chateau? We've done a deal with our reception guy for unlimited wine with the meal (it's 7 courses and hsould last about 6 hours so that is quite a bit of wine!) and then champagne with the piece montee. When we talked about a pay bay the auberge owner looked at me as if I was the cheapest person on earth!! Apparently french couples just fill a table with loads of booze from the supermarket (wine spirits soda etc) and that becomes the bar - we'll let people know it's going to be that way and if they want anything special they are welcome to bring it themselves - it should last both nights and anything left over can be enjoyed afterwards or we'll take it to FI's Mum's house for when we return from honeymoon! I'm a bit worried as I think my guests may be face-down in the pudding with all that booze!! I recommend not using a wedding planner it makes it much more personal, and cheaper, and it gives you a chance to completely do it your way. We are doing a LOT of DIY stuff, there is a growing pile of boxes in the lounge which we have to take out in April. But I am realy pleased we made the decision to get married in France, I am enjoying planning it and no other wedding will be like it, that makes me happy. This conversation could go on and on!! Feel free to PM me!! take care, Hannah

this is a wonderful idea and so cheap! Thanks so much for posting this - I have saved all the webpages! Hannah

Quote: Originally Posted by kerryjbrown It seems that the hotfix I found yesterday are 5.99 for 24 crystals which doesn't even make up one or two letters, is this right? Seems cheaper to order them from customized girl? am i missing something? This website sells 100 rhinestones for £1: Hot Fix WHITE GLUE : Swarovski, Preciosa, Pearls, Diamantes, Rhinestones, Rhinestones Shapes, Rhinestuds, Nailheads, Motifs, Rhinestone Glue, Kandi Kane applicator Mylar paper there for £2. This seems a real bargain! Also you get more flexibility in your choice of garment - I like to choose my own knickers rather than being limited by a personalisation website's options! thanks for sharing - this is a deffo for me! HAnnah

Quote: Originally Posted by fitnessfi We own a house not far from Montauban and have found a gorgeous chateau just up the road. Not getting married till next year tho. We love the area so much and wanted our family and friends to experience it too. What kind of venue are you getting married in? Hi, We're getting married in Lavardens, a tiny village just north of Auch. Because of French law we're being married in the Mairie then we're skipping the religious ceremony and going on to a local auberge for a huge feast. We're having a north african lamb roast, or meshui, the night before the wedding to make it the traditional two-day event. We looked at chateau in the area but decided that rustic france would be much more us; there are some lovely ones in the area. Have you set a date yet? Are you using a co-ordinator? We aren't and there are a lot of cultural differences - many good - the idea of corkage is totally alien! But some are harder for a stressed bride to deal with - it is almost impossible to pin down prices and expectations with suppliers, they merely shrug! Hannah

welcome to the forum. I tend to click on "unread posts" and just browse - there's a lot here! Hannah

how exciting!! Where? At this rate we'll have to demand our own sub-forum, I believe that brings the total french brides to three! Hannah

thanks Carly, and I've ditched the banner, felt it was a bit ostentatious anyway and have no idea how to make it smaller! Hannah

it all looks absolutely brilliant!

Hi, I need to make this really clear: I have NEVER made anything resembling jewellery in my life (well apart from pasta necklaces for my Mum when I was about 6!) but am really pleased with the tiaras I've made and they were so easy I thought someone else on here might be able to enjoy making them as I have. I have now made one for me and one each for my three bridesmaids and colour co-ordinated the stones to match their dress colours (olive and gold). I want to add a few more crystals to mine but can't find the ones I like in stock at the moment but currently it has cost me less than £20 to make all of them and I have material spare to make hair combs for other special guests. I bought all the stuff at epbeads.co.uk, there were loads of ebay sellers but seeing as they made the fantastic tutorial below I felt I wanted to reward them with some business. People who have made jewellery before might not need to buy the "ready-made" sprays as I did. I followed these two youtube tutorials: YouTube - Part one of our tiara making tutorial YouTube - Part two of our tiara making tutorial Making all four took me just under two hours (I was watching 27 dresses at the same time which made it an even more enjoyable experience!). Recommend doing this as very personal, special and CHEAP! Hannah