vgirl17

I ordered some Stardream Metallic (shimmery) paper from CutCardStock.com I know PaperAndMore.com has great prices too but you have to buy in bigger bulk from them for certain things. I use text weight paper for printing and then attached it to cardstock (that I cut with a paper cutter) as a backing for sturdiness. Hope this helps

Thanks ladies! I'm really glad I sent them out. I got a lot more responses from our guests.

Don't do it! I went through something a little similar (step-brother's girlfriend decided she HAD to get engaged before me during the week we all went to Cancun together and they KNEW my fiance was going to propose!!!... she found out from my step-dad and mom when my fiance asked for their permission) Normally we all get along great and she's really young so it didn't bother me at first, especially since I knew she was DYING to get engaged because all of her friends were getting married, etc and she was CONSTANTLY dropping not so subtle hints to everyone in our family about wanting to get engaged to my step-brother... but then.... it got messy when the planning started... she was already asking me if we had a date picked for the wedding while we were still at the airport on our way home from Cancun because she had already decided on their date!!! I was like, "Uh, I hadn't really thought about a date yet since we've only been engaged for 4 days!!!" (not to mention we weren't even back from our vacation yet!) Anyway, try to talk to your friend and let her know that it may be a bit much for all of your guests to have to attend two events during your wedding week. 10 years is a great accomplishment but she should understand that this is your week and not about her. Offer to help her plan for her vowel-renewal "after" you're done with your own planning. Good luck, I hope it works out for you. If she's really your friend she should understand.

I think 3 or 4 would go better with your dress but their all gorgeous!

I think #2 looks more modern and sleek, although both would look gorgeous

So I sent out our Reminder postcards last month and am finally getting around to posting them on here. I wanted to return the favor since I've gotten SO MANY great ideas from you girls and previous brides. I created the images on Photoshop and had the postcards made by Vista Print. It only cost me about $20 for 100 postcards!! The actual postcards were free and I paid $4.99 for each image (1-front, 1-back) and $9.99 to have the back also printed in color. I used their 'slow shipping' because I didn't want to pay extra for their quicker shipping and I still got them in about a week! I LOVE how they turned out! p.s. You can click on the images to view it bigger.

Welcome Tonya! I can't say that I've been to Aventura Spa Palace but I have been to the Moon Palace and love it. It is a huge resort with plenty to do for everyone. We are getting married there in April and I can't wait! The nice thing about the Moon Palace is that it has three separate sections that all have their own "feel" so you can hang out at whichever one suits the mood you're in at that time. They have a lot of swim-up bars and even have a swinging bar (you sit on a swing instead of a barstool!). There is also a HUGE variety of restaurants to go to so you don't get bored with the food. Hope this helps a little, let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll try to help you out Congratulations and good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by Mrs D To Be! Veronica!! 5 months to go for you!! how much excitement!! hows the planning going?! I know!!! It's gone by SO QUICKLY!!!! I'm SUPER excited!! It's going fantastic! I've got my dress (still waiting for it to come in) We just picked out our bridesmaid dresses (still need to order them though), and I'm currently working on our DIY invites Since I've already sent out the STDs and reminder postcards I'll just wait until Jan or Feb to get final RSVPs. We already have a pretty good idea of who's going but there are a few out there that we are unsure of so we'll see. My family is notorious for doing everything at the last minute! LOL! How's planning going for you!

Quote: Originally Posted by nsblum I really want to start doing WW. My friend just started and she lost 14 pounds in 4 weeks. If I am getting married next June, how much weight do you think I could lose by then? I am scared to go dress shopping because I know their sample sizes wont fit me! Well it depends on how much you have to lose. By next June I'd say you could realistically lose 20-40 lbs easily if you stick to it and are very dedicated to making it work for you. Even more than that if you have more to lose. Once you get the points down you can start adding more excercise to REALLY put you over the top!

Quote: Originally Posted by SuzG Ahhhh help! Need some encouragement please...I tried my wedding dress on last week and they had let it out when I first bought it...I had lost 9 lbs. at that point and it was still too small. Then I did ended up going over my points by a lot throughout the week (bad emotional eating lol). Now I've gained some back, my wedding is in less than 3 months and I'm very discouraged...guess I'll just need to get back on track! Good words of advice Vgirl...I'll try to use it Girl, you've still got three months so make the most of it! You're in the home stretch so make every decision from here on out a good one. You can do it! Track every single point and to lose more quickly try to get some cardio workouts in. I used to hate doing cardio, but for me what worked is doing interval cardio. I do a 5 min. warm-up on the treadmill then run for 2 minutes, then alternate between a fast walk and running every few minutes. It REALLY helped me to drop pounds quickly and also made me want to eat more healthy. Wedding pictures last a lifetime and you have the chance right now to make sure that you LOVE how you look in those pictures forever You can do it!

I have to agree with Jenn. Your friend was in the wrong for not offering to pay for the airport transfer once she found out she had extra money and wouldn't need you to do so. Who knows, maybe she will end up paying for it herself and telling you she doesn't need it? Sometimes even friends don't realize the dumb things they do. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it at this point. I know it sucks but you did 'offer' to pay it for her, so don't waste precious energy getting upset over it. Just remember that she's your friend and has been very supportive of you and your wedding and chalk it up to a learning experience. You can't single her out from the other bridesmaids because that would just make you look bad and I'm sure you don't want there to be any awkward or bad feelings within your own wedding party. You also don't want this situation to overshadow what is really important on the day that you are presenting your other bridesmaids with gifts or on your wedding day when everyone is getting their hair and makeup done and she's not. Good Luck!

Welcome to all of the new WW brides! The best advice I can give you to start off on this thread is just take one day at a time and don't dwell on mistakes, just learn from it and move on. Take every loss (even .2 lbs) as a wonderful success! Don't do tomorrow what you can do today... with dieting, 'tomorrow' never comes. I've learned that one the hard way!

Quote: Originally Posted by gemmalou hi everyone we are planning on having our wedding at moon palace in 2011 i know its ages away, just wanted to here some views on those who have had their wedding here, was it what you expected nice well organised??. we are planning on having the cocktail party and hiring and private function to make it more personally , has anyone else done this and if so was it nice really hope people can help as we just hope its how we want our wedding to be gem xxx Congratulations Gemmalou! 2011 will be here before you know it! Just take advantage of all of the time you have and start to get the little DIY things done that you want and making To Do Lists, etc. as you think of things that you want for your wedding. I haven't been married there yet, however I hear the cocktail reception is very nice and they serve lots of hours d' ouvres (don't know if I spelled that right). I have been to the Moon Palace a few times and know everyone is going to LOVE IT!!! If anyone has any questions about the resort in general I will try to help The resort is GORGEOUS and there is something to do for everyone!

Quote: Originally Posted by NJ Hunnie Thanks Veronica! you are getting married the day after me!!! How are you making out with your plans?? Wow! I didn't even realize that!!! How crazy is that!! We'll probably see each other there My parents are members so we're going to be staying on the Sunrise side. Plans are coming along great! Things are really starting to pick up for me. There is still SO MUCH to do! We finally picked out our bridesmaids dresses last weekend. I have a lot more people responding to our SaveTheDates since I sent out a postcard reminder about two weeks ago. When are you planning on sending your formal invites out? I'm confused as to when I should require final RSVPs because of the holidays, etc. I am thinking of sending them out end of December and requesting Feb 1 as the RSVP date, but I'm not sure if that's enough time to get my OOT bag stuff ordered and ready? How are your plans coming

Quote: Originally Posted by NJ Hunnie Hi Ladies, How are you? I was trying to plan my welcome dinner...I was contemplating between Arrecifes or Trattoria. Can you former MP brides tell me which one you prefer. Thanks so much! Well we haven't gotten married yet, however I stayed at the Moon Palace last year and think the food at the Trattoria is fabulous (it's located by the golf course). I haven't eaten at Arrecifes yet, however I've heard that it is good and can provide an element of fun because they serve you food on sticks or something like that... The Trattoria is a white tablecloth elegant type of place. Hope this helps

Quote: Originally Posted by Sandra&Mario I've been so busy lately with wedding planning and work that I haven't focused on my weight loss. I'm scared of stepping on the scale Anyone have a great tip to put me back on track!? Hi Sandra! I have to agree with SuzG... Just do it I did the same thing as you... got SUPER busy with wedding planning... put everything else on the back burner... but once I got back on the scale I at least knew where I stood and how much more I needed to go. You'll feel better that you "know" and aren't worried about what it will say... you never know, it may not be as bad as you think

Suzanne and Meg! You've come to the right place! It's nice to have a place to check in to keep you motivated and get support when you need it

Quote: Originally Posted by swizmp I booked my own photographer. I liked the resort ones 85% of the time... but I wanted to be sure that on my day it was going to be awesome. My photographer had already done weddings at the MP and knew all the rules. (I believe you have to book 2 nights for them so they can be considered guests and not vendors) I'm using Tammara; Tamm's Photos - Wedding Photography Intro Hi Swizmp! I'll be getting married two days after you! I still haven't booked a photographer and I'm wondering if Tamm's would be available to do mine and maybe that would cut down on the cost for us both Just a thought. I sent them a request for a quote so I'll see what they say. Pictures are SUPER important to me too and theirs are beautiful!

Welcome Caroline!!! We're getting married at the Moon Palace just a few weeks before you!! I LOVE it there!

Just adding my name to the list April 9 - (kimmyg) Kimmy from Cincinnati - RPRM April 9 - (Chicken764) Martine from Casselman - Grand Palladium-Punta Cana April 10 - (jerseykitten) Michele from Jersey (Central Jersey by Six Flags) - Jamaica April 10 - (Shan13) Shannon from little rock, arkansas (originally from St.Louis) - Las Vegas April 13 - (caribbeanlover) Tracy from Montreal - Punta Cana April 16 - (echo2_62) Meghan from Calgary - Dreams Puerto Aventuras, Mexico April 16 - (doblauvelt) Tonya from Northern NJ - Moon Palace, Mexico April 22 - (Jcooper79) Jaime from MN - Gran Porto Real, Riveria Maya April 24 - (jerzygirl85) Joanna from Jersey City - Dreams Tulum, Mexico April 24 - (GregsBride) Christina from Washington, DC - Jamaica April 24 - (vgirl17) Veronica from Vacaville, CA - Moon Palace, Cancun, Mexico April 25 - (shortnsweet7675) Natasha from Atlanta, GA - Miami, FL (Carnival Glory Eastern Caribbean cruise) April 27 - (Tonir) Toni from Ann Arbor, MI - St. Thomas, USVI April 28 - (ebredhawk) Erin from Cincinnati - Dreams Punta Cana April 28 - (Melidell) Mel from NWT - Melia Las Dunas, Cuba April 29 - (SuzyQ76) Suzanne from Calgary, Grand Riviera Princess, Mexico

Quote: Originally Posted by TinaM2b You can change the script but I have heard that you take a chance of getting someone performing the ceremony that have language barriers when they stray from their normal wording. Our WC recommended we change as little a possible. We ended up changing the vows only and adding the sand ceremony and got someone that could read English very well. Thank you Tina and Nibsmom! Does anyone have a copy of what they say during the ceremony?

Quote: Originally Posted by caribbeanLover I'm on the same boat, I spent allot of time on my website (a good week and half) I had 2 people rsvp on my site, the rest I added myself. I also did the polls, I few people went on and check it out, but thats about it.It's a little fustrating!! Welcome To Our Destination Wedding Website | Welcome | TracyandMike I know! I entered my mom and step-dad's RSVP myself because it was a little more than she could handle! LOL! And then there are those who are all excited about going and ask me a ton of questions that are ALL answered on the website already! So I answer, "Yeah, all of that info is on the website... have you seen it yet?" (knowing they hadn't but trying to get them to at least look at it!) Oh well...at least it's funny to talk about. Once the reminders go out it's every guest for themselves... I did my job in trying to get them all of the info...

Quote: Originally Posted by ebredhawk welcome veronica!! i know what you mean about it coming faster than you expected! we booked our date 14 months out and now we're more than half way there and it feels like this all just started yesterday! i also saw your thing about the privacy setting... if it's just a link to book their room through a TA or something like that, i don't think it has to be private. of course, if there is information on there that you don't want anyone else to see or use, by all means, leave it. i don't think privacy settings will affect anyone's decision to come or not.. at least i hope not! Thank you! Well we have our Group Booking link AND the Group Rates posted but I'm still seriously considering removing the privacy setting because I'm sure it's annoying for those who aren't computer savvy. I have to say, the one nice thing about it is that to view our site you have to register so it allows me to see who has looked at it and also provides me their e-mail address if I don't already have it.... uggh... decisions decision... and I thought a destination wedding would be less stressful!!! Hahahahha!

I know this has been discussed before but I can't find a clear answer. For those of you who have been married at MP, where you able to decide what wording was used for the ceremony? Or change their standard "script"?

Quote: Originally Posted by adurrell Thank you all for the warm welcome. Last night I went to the gym and feel really proud of myself today. It's going to be a long journey but I can do it. Especially with all of your support. Thanks again! I'll keep you posted. Have a great week ladies! Great job adurrell! Just take it one day at a time and you'll be there before you know it!