ebredhawk

so glad you are back and everything went so well!! you'll have to post a more detailed review later so we can hear all the details!!

heck yes, i love all these new April PC brides! it seems like right now is the time that everyone is having difficulty getting family and friends to book! i've read a lot that people had guests that really waited till the last minute to book thinking that they could get a better price elsewhere or prices would come down closer to the date of the wedding. if only everyone had the same sense of urgency that we all do!!

hi dawn! love having more april PC brides! it sounds like you're well on your way already!! you should post pictures of your invites so we can see them... sounds like they are beautiful! i think a lot of the girls on here (myself included) are doing OOT bags. there are SO many good threads on here to help you decide if you want to do them and what the best things to include are! we are including advil, pepto, immodium, pool floats, towels, an information booklet for the guests (we are handing them out about a month before), a deck of cards, snacks, and i know some other things that i'm forgetting!

thanks michele!! i'm having some for myself too! tara, i feel the same way sometimes. it's good because you can think of little details that you want to add and know that anything else you do is extra! the downside is that you see stuff on here that other people are doing and freak out feeling like you need to do that! i'm sure other things will come to you, but be glad for now that you're not stressed and rushed!!

michele, i'm so jealous!! mine JUST turned to 8 last week! speaking of your wedding date, FI and I got a STD in the mail for his friend's wedding which is on april 10th. i kept telling FI that i swore i knew something else was going on that day and then i realized.. it's because that's YOUR date! FI just shook his head when i told him that i was thinking of the wedding of a BDW bride! those of you looking for flowers, definitely let us know how the samples turn out! who in the world would have thought that finding artificial stargazers would be so difficult?! i found my other two flowers (white stargazers and pink/white orchids... for BM and bouts) no problem! i'm very tempted to send my bouquet inspiration pic to one of these places and just let them do it for me, rather than trying to buy my own and having my mom's friend do them. andddd... as i was typing this message someone from the client that i'm working on came up and told me my car got broken into... they stole my gps, awesome. thankfully i don't have anything else in my car and my future stepdaughter's booster seat wasn't in there so i don't have to worry about glass on that!! sorry for the random note.. had to share that with someone! going home now to drink a beer and call my insurance!

ACH... do you remember what your food choices were with the dinner package you chose? soccergurl made it sound like she was able to choose items from the menu of the restaurant that her reception was at, but i was under the impression that each lever (silver, gold, etc.) had its own distinct options that were independent on your reception location. sorry if that doesn't make any sense! thank you so much for answering all of our questions!

i honestly think i'd rather look at this site than the knot!! it's hilarious!! FI is going to love it... esp. the whole section on the pro's and con's of a DW!

her pictures are gorgeous!! you are going to have such a great time... doing a BD shoot is SOOO worth it!

michele, i am SO sorry that it's continuing to be such a struggle with you and your FI's fam! has your MOH booked yet? i know you mentioned she promised she would! i think it's pretty revealing to find out people's priorities when they have to do more than just drive to get to a family member's (or even friend's) wedding. what i think it should say more though, is how awesome your friends are and that you've got a great group around you, regardless of it's family or friends! and when in doubt, you know you have all of us to vent to!

those are DIY?? you'd never be able to tell!! i just love all the little touches you added. the ribbon on the belly band (i had no idea that's what they were called!) is so cute and works perfectly! you really did an amazing job.

i just had my engagement pictures done about a month ago and i definitely agree with everyone else... get your hair and makeup done... your confidence will definitely shine through! i also agree with what tammyb said... we did one casual outfit and one dressed up look. we had planned ahead the places we were taking pictures and knew that certain looks worked better based on the background. another great tip that my photographer gave us is choosing outfits with simple colors, but having some accessories that pop. that way your clothes don't overwhelm the pictures, but you still have some fun, colorful touches!

i would guess (although i'm sure past brides or other B2Bs can confirm) that a preferred room is going to be higher than the honeymoon no matter what. on the other hand, will you have at least 5 rooms for at least 4 nights? as long as you have that you don't need to worry about the room category.

ACH.. did you have a ceremony rehearsal at all? i'm not 100% sure FI will know what to do!!

those are so elegant and classy! that is a fantastic picture of you and your FI too!!

sperger.. that dress is beautiful! i think it'll look even better shortened too! michele, where are you going on vacation? make sure you soak up as much down time as possible before the job hunt starts back up! robin, i'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you get your date! make sure you keep us posted. also, like we always tell the new brides, there is no such thing as "being behind" in wedding planning. it totally depends on when you start, how involved or detailed you want things to be and your personality. the best thing is having this site so you can always get new ideas and get help at any point along the way! taylorbride, do the BM dresses actually have pockets? i LOVE that look and it's super convenient too! and you can definitely never go wrong with a nice necklace. i'm sure you'll be able to find something to wear it to if it doesn't end up going with your dress. kerry, i think you're the first honduras bride i've heard of! that is really cool and unique, plus i love your "eco-friendly" ideas and i'm jealous you can keep track of who's checking your website. that is definitely a bonus when you're figuring out who is really interested in the trip. are you staying at a hotel or a resort? do they have all-inclusive packages? planning is definitely slowing down for me.. little things here and there, but that's basically it. we finally found our GM outfits (black linen short sleeve shirts and tan linen shorts) and i'm on the hunt for BM sandals. i also ordered by BD book from my photographer after realizing that there isn't much of a cost difference and she will do an incredible job with it. i'll be anxious to see what she comes up with! also, i am having one hell of a time trying to find silk or real touch stargazer lilies online. i've found a few sites that look like they have good quality, but they're sold out and don't know when they'll get them back in stock. has anyone found or heard of a good place to buy quality fake flowers online?

sperger... what do your BM dresses look like? where did you get them from? i'm letting my bridesmaids choose their own dresses and so far i don't think any of them have even looked! granted all they need is a black dress, but i told them they'll probably want it to be short or "beach appropriate" because it will be so warm and this is probably the best time of the year to buy stuff like that! also, if you're researching for your honeymoon, BDW is great! i love that it's a one-stop-shop for TONS of locations... it's easy to read the reviews brides have written about all of the resorts.. so helpful!!

welcome taylorbride!! we are in the same boat as you... we have 9 guests booked so far and there really aren't that more for us to be completely booked! we figured it was either we invite just family or we'd have about 150 guests! as far as table linens go, this site is incredibly helpful and has gotten some great reviews: Table Runner table runners are also pretty easy to make yourself (or have a crafty friend do it!) as long as you can get the fabric and have a sewing machine!

these are gorgeous! i love how you combined a bunch of different ideas. the starfish/sand dollar part is such a cute little touch!!

i think ahr's are as widely varied as people's dw's! people can go really nuts or go simple. since the whole theme of our wedding has been "low stress", we're going for the whole bbq, cookout theme. a girl i work with and her husband brew their own beer so they are providing the alochol, and FI's a butcher part time so his butcher shop is catering. other than that i think we're just going to have a tent with tables underneath, some music, pictures from the wedding, etc. pretty low key. it's definitely cool for the people who can't make it to the wedding to have a more formal event though! i admire your courage tonya!! plus it's pretty cool that you would get to wear your dress again!

pastor rick york is an american pastor in punta cana who can perform symbolic ceremonies in that area. if you are getting married in PC and it's not a legal ceremony, check out his website here for contact info: Eastern Dominican Christian Mission there are a bunch of really positive reviews about him on the forum. do a search and you'll be able to see them all!

this is probably one of the more unique DIY projects i've seen! how cool! can't wait to see how it turns out!

thought the april thread needed a bump every time i see new april brides i think that they need to come join us here!! everyone still hanging in there? anything new? girls who have had a hard time getting guests to book, any more luck than before? hope everyone's doing okay! we're creeping into the "less than 8 months" territory for some of you too!

tinamiami.. they can accomodate up to 3 weddings per day (3 WCs) so there is a chance that other people will be getting married that same day. the good thing is, no 2 weddings are ever scheduled at the same time.

soccergurl.. so glad you had a good experience!!! sounds like everything worked out in the end! question about your reception... did you still get the private reception and everything not using the reception dinner menus? did you just pick some of bordeaux's food? is this the same price as the dinner package?

that price is pretty comparable to what my guests are paying for my april DPC wedding. i also think everyone pretty much hit on the fact that a lot of times people are more likely to complain about the things they didn't like than talk about a trip that had no problems at all (since this is what we usually expect!). as far as communication with the wedding coordinator, it's important to realize the demands on all of their time. there are 3 of them and they are pretty much doing a wedding every day or two days, so they don't have a ton of time to respond to emails. while this may seem inconvenient, consider the things that you need to do ahead of time with them... there isn't much. you pick out flowers, reception location, food, etc. all at your meeting on site a few days before the wedding. i've also found that the little things i have questions about, the past DPC brides are really great about answering for me. also, there is a forum on the dreams resorts website... one specifically for DPC and one for weddings and there are always people there to answer your questions if you aren't getting immediate response from your WC. i hope this helps you out some! good luck making your final decision and let us all know what you decide!