Positanobride10

That's awesome! I may steal the idea.

I liked the original from American Bridal but the port authority tote from amazon is less expensive and seems very nice. I think I may get the latter, plus it comes in much more appealing colors.

That's awesome!

Congrats! Being in Scotland you have lots of options in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Anyway, I have found this forum very useful. Congrats again and welcome!

That is a great idea. I want to do the luggage tags too and I also downloaded the template from this forum (BTW- thanks to all who post pics and templates). I did a quick search at Office Depot, they have Self Adhesive Laminating Luggage Tags with loops. I think I may go that route. Each pack of 5 is $7 and I will only need two packs. Thanks for the inspiration.

Your wedding and the pics are absolutely beautiful!

Research, Research, Research....That is all I think I am doing these days. Our wedding is not until May 2010 and we are trying to gather information, trying to see how our dollar can be stretched so we can afford a beautiful wedding, honeymoon and at home party. Amidst all the research, I am interviewing 5 planners/coordinators. I have gotten great results and hope to choose someone soon. I also think we have our budget set. I am excited to really get into the planning and choosing all of the wonderful things that go along with a wedding (flowers, gown, bm dresses, etc.).

I feel your pain. We are doing something very similar. I ended up opting out of the announcements and doing an email announcement regarding my engagement and reassuring my extended family that we will have a party at home after our honeymoon. That worked a lot better than I expected. My mom was mad at me for a while but I think she is over it now. For announcement ideas....since I didn't do them..I am going to defer to anyone else with that. Good luck with the family!

I tend to agree with others posting, usually a DW will cut down the guest list. For me, I never wanted a large wedding. I am only inviting my two best friends and our immediate family. I felt guilty about it for a minute until I was reminded by my sister who just got married (large local wedding) that no matter what, whether the wedding is here or away, big or small, I will unintentionally hurt someone's feelings. Its just apart of getting married. In an effort to help, see what deals you can get for some of your guests whether it be at the hotel/resort, airline tickets, etc. We are paying for one of my friend's plane tickets who we want there and cannot afford the plane ticket and the rest of travel costs. Flying to Europe is really costly. We are also going to pay for a group excursion during the wedding week so we can spend extra time with our guests doing something local. I know if we pay for the day excursion, it will cut down on some stress for our guests. I hope this helps, good luck.

Your save the dates are awesome! I love that they are on textured paper.

Here is mine. I made it this weekend and may make another. I got the instructions and font, Afternoon Delight, from this forum. Enjoy! Monogram_robin.pdf

That is a great idea. I may use that for my bridesmaids

I am getting married in May 2010. I posted something similar. I decided to start with a budget. Therefore, I have to contact a few coordinators and they have given me price quotes and said its not too early. I also wanted to send out save the dates early because we are getting married in Italy and it is really expensive right now. Our dollar is not doing well. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

They look great!

Your dress is fabulous!

I happen to like Trip Adviser but you have to look at other sites too. I usually look at a few others and then take the average ratings of all sites. Then choose. Every hotel or place will have one or two negative reviews but if the negatives are lower than the positives, you have a good chance of enjoying the hotel/resort.

The door hangers are a great idea & cute!

I think if you keep the event casual the invite could be just as casual, use the evite.

Congrats! Welcome

I really just started planning. I am working on our budget. We set one but just making sure everything will fit nicely into it. I have chosen some coordinators over there that I will start emailing now for quotes and a better understanding of what they really offer. Also, I want to see who I click with. I think you understand from your previous posts. I also have picked out a few different wedding dresses online and have pinpointed two bridal shops in my area to start dress shopping. I am going to look for a dress in March and May. I am in grad school right now and I have spring break in March and a break in May. I would like to go on the first run in March just in case it takes me a long time to find a dress. I also want to do it on a free weekend so my mom can come too. I'm also planning on inviting my step-mom from PA. I have also priced out invitations and save the dates. I am going to DIY them since I am only going to make 10. We are not inviting a lot of people to the ceremony in Italy. I also know I would like to use as many local and in season flowers not only to save a bit of cash, but to have an Italian wedding. I don't want to spend all of this money just to go over there to have an American wedding. It kind of defeats the purpose ...for me at least. Plus a lot of the local flowers I do like (Peonies and roses). I have been on Trip Adviser and received lots of advise on hotels, wedding planners, hair and make-up stylists in Positano. Check it out if you need any assistance. That site/forum really surprised me because it had a lot of wedding planning advise. That is about it for right now. Again, I am going to start with my email interviews of coordinators and go from there. Oh I also have figured in a tentative plan, transportation from the airport ot a Naples hotel, cab/walk to the U.S. Consulate to do license and transportation to Positano from Naples. There are three ways of doing that...it should be interesting what we acutally do. Talk to you soon. Robin

Welcome. I am also a 2010 bride and just started to plan myself. Good luck

Both are very beautiful dresses. The linen will be nice for the beach and comfortable too.

Welcome. You will find this site very useful, and the people very nice and helpful.

Other members of the wedding party can host the bridal shower instead of your sister. Also, the shower is supposed to be a month before the wedding date. I see you are getting married in 2010, have plenty of time. You can have a shower even though you are doing a DW. If you are inviting friends and family, have a shower. I am debating on not having one only because my wedding will be my best friends and our family. But again, if there aren't limitations on your invite list, have a shower. hope this helps Robin

The dress is really pretty and something that can be worn again. Good call.