ebredhawk

meghan, my mom has a great saying... "same shit, different bucket" (pardon my vulgar mother!)... we all have our drama to deal with, but just because it's different doesn't mean it's any less stressful or deserving of some serious venting!! that being said... JEREMY'S DAUGHTER IS COMING TO THE WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the judge didn't just issue a decision, he made it a COURT ORDER that she come!!!! he has had a horrible experience with custody and just everything court related, but he won the most important part!!! i can FINALLY start letting myself picture her there and we can really start getting her excited about all of the details!!! oh man i need a glass of wine now!! suzy, your message actually made me cry.. happy tears of course! the vision of you all in our corner and her stupid, bitchy mom in the other was the best ever i am saying my prayers that everything works out with your family as well. once they get there, they won't be able to help but forget why they were worried in the first place! jodi, i am so sorry you are going through that mess right now. you want to be able to enjoy this time and they are just making this so much more stressful for you! please let us know once you find out that things are okay and all set up! we'll be thinking about you!

just got back from court... JEREMY'S DAUGHTER IS COMING TO THE WEDDING!!!!!!!!!! the judge issued a court order instead of just a decision (the order has more weight i guess) SO she is officially coming!! i can finally let myself start picturing her there!! of course, my first thought after i settled down was.. damn, now we have to pack for her too!!

i hope you're travelling safe today michele!! i teared up a little bit reading your message... i absolutely can't wait for you to be back and to hear about everything! hopefully you'll be able to enjoy every second of the whole trip and experience! my stomach is in knots.. the hearing is at 1:45 today and i will definitely post an update when i get home! meghan, i am so so so sorry that these boys are just causing continued drama. the past DW brides always say that you really learn a lot about people during this whole process, and it sounds like you're no exception to that rule. this is not something you should have to deal with right now and it makes me want to strangle someone for what they're doing so soon before you leave! if it's possible, rest assured that they will NOT ruin any of your wedding photos, and there will be plenty of other, more important people there with you to celebrate with. it seems like we all have our own war stories through this whole process, and you've definitely got yours! we're all here for you to vent, just make sure these guys don't get the satisfaction of taking anything away from what you've been look forward to for so long!!

michele, everything looks great!! i hope you're getting excited about leaving tomorrow! we'll be thinking about you on saturday!

4 other kids.. all with different guys?! holy moly!! i can't even imagine!! it all seems logical, right? hopefully the judge will think so too!! and yeah, we actually booked her trip and got her passport already! we got cancellation insurance just in case, but she's ready to go otherwise!

elena, it's a 45 min bus ride from DPC.. they come and pick you up and drop you back off. i know that they do day events all the time.. you'd just have to get in touch with them and see if your date is available!

happy wedding day to julie!! and thank you all so much for your thoughts and crossed fingers tomorrow. we need the good vibes from all over! suzy... i completely missed your post earlier about your mom, but i am SO sorry to hear that. here's hoping that everything gets worked out and there won't be any more tears or stress and your day will be just how it should. and just as a sweeping comment to everyone.. what is with everybody having crazy guests and bridal party members? is this some sort of looney disease that people get before they go to a DW? i'm so amazed, it seems like everyone's got some bit of drama going on! let's all make a deal to tell everyone to suck it up, be thankful that they get a great excuse to go on an amazing trip (regardless of the location) and to just enjoy and be happy! is it so hard? probably about as hard as people getting their butts up and trying on their outfits or getting fitted!! (which apparently is very difficult!) eeeek michele!! good luck with everything today!! travel safe tomorrow and check in when you're down there if you can! one bright spot for today... my hair pieces are on their way to me! my photographer also has a hairpiece business (www.poshrebel.com) and she made me one for the wedding and one for the TTD. i love the really modern looking veils, but since our ceremony is on the beach and it's windy, i couldn't use one for the wedding. so instead i've got it for the TTD! wedding: TTD:

christinimartini.. that is amazing that your FI's ex is being so agreeable! my future step daughter's mom (she and my FI were never married) actually started with the "you'll never bring her back from PC" argument and then moved on to her getting kidnapping, people in the caribbean hating americans, etc. now that we're in court she's arguing that she shouldn't miss 5 days of school. and by school i mean 1st grade. i hate for her to miss that much, but we will help her do her work, and even the judge said that she may learn more from going to another country and spending time with her family than she would in a classroom. here's hoping that logic wins out! the legal thing is just our back up plan.. i know she won't understand what it really means, but if she can't come we'll make her feel special, like it's our secret and no one else knows. on a much brighter note, my hair pieces shipped today! my amazing photographer also has a hairpiece business (www.poshrebel.com) so she made me one for the ceremony and one for the TTD! the first one is the ceremony one and the 2nd is for the TTD... i can't wear a veil on the beach (damn wind) so we're doing it for that shoot instead!

christinimartini, i love the hanger idea! so cute! i was very conflicted when i was starting to plan OOT bags, etc. because i absolutely didn't want to include anything just for the sake of cutesy-ness. i wanted everything to be useful and if it wasn't, it wouldn't be worth spending the $$. we actually won't know till thursday (oh goodness i hope it gets finalized thursday) whether or not my FI's daughter will get to come. we have her whole bag/present ready, but we have to wait to find out if she can come. otherwise we're going to give it to her at our legal ceremony for her special present.

michele, i think i'm losing my mind! i guess i was thinking that may 22nd was actually april 22nd.. i need help! that's my mom's birthday though, so a fun date either way!! here's hoping for a fast last day of work for you! natasha, your garter looks JUST like mine, and mine's actually just my mom's old one. i love the "something old" thing! plus she made it for you, that's awesome! tracy, that friend of yours is psycho! fingers crossed that the whole situation gets figured out soon! i can't imagine a huge vacation so last minute! i have my fingers, toes, eyes, everything crossed for thursday. that should be the day we find out whether or not FI's daughter can come with us. nothing like cutting it close, huh? it'll give us just enough time to work with her teacher to get her assignments and all that organized. plus i'll have to tear through all her clothes to make sure she has what she needs! i hate all this uncertainty!!

same thing for our AHR as well which is june 5th! except we're not having a dj (just ipod music) and i'm not putting on my dress or anything. we wanted it to be more of an "open house" type thing, so people can just come and go... eat, drink, dance, play games, etc. hopefully it won't involve too much more planning when we get back! we actually need to send out the invites next week! 3 weeks from right now i'll be meeting with flori from la barcaza at the resort to finalize everything! WEIRD!!

michele, your AHR is even before our wedding date! i'm so glad mel will still be here with me until the end of the month!! so this week is: julie, kimmy, martin and michele! amazing! i can't wait until everyone's pictures start rolling in! meghan, i hope everything is still going smoothly with your packing, flowers, etc! so i managed to get another day off of work before we leave! now i have thursday and friday off and we leave saturday the 24th. hopefully that will be plenty of time to get things organized. right now i'm just throwing everything that i want to pack and won't need until then in a big bin and then we can sort out how it's all going to get down there with us! getting things home is another story altogether!

tracy, i can't believe your friend booked! you know how everyone always says though that the people who want to be there will make it.. seems like she is one of those surprising ones! and i cracked up when i saw that you wanted labels for the little aloe bottles!! you'll have to count how many different labels you made at some point! wendy, congrats on being a (secret) mrs!! one step down.. you'll get to the big ceremony soon! kim, i was going to say.. if mayor mallory takes time out of his day to do weddings it wouldn't surprise me much bit! he seems like a bit of a nut! all the OOT bags and the bridesmaid bouquets are officially out of my hands!! we had a mini "rehearsal dinner" last night for FI's birthday so i passed out all that stuff then! my to do list is ridiculously small now! and i can't believe jenna's wedding is TOMORROW!! our first april wedding is already here!!

here's another update.. sorry it took so long to add you jackie! go ahead and copy and paste to update with your wedding date, resort, etc! dc22173's clear starfish line-up: 1 ) kimmyg - April 9 - Riu Palace Riviera Maya 2 ) ebredhawk - April 28 - Dreams Punta Cana 3 ) ldeavila - May 10 - Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta 4 ) butterfly4kathy2 - May 11 - Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta 5 ) future mrs. kt ellis - June 5 - Scottsdale, AZ 6 ) *kerin28* - June 19 - Worcester, MA 7 ) Bahiabride2010 - July 3 - Punta Cana 8 ) jackie_c - travelling 8/12 - 8/21 - Cancun 9 ) breeze616 - December 10 - Iberostar Rose Hall Beach, Montego Bay

IT'S OUR MONTH LADIES!!!! how long have we been waiting for this?!?! i am SO glad we have the list up again.. i want to save it to my comptuer so i can reference it every day! jenna you are SO close! travel safe.. we'll all be thinking about you saturday! congrats on the legal day, kim! did mayor mallory actually do your ceremony? that's nuts! and i agree.. showers = stress, but presents = good! tracy, big thumbs up on the re-work of the vases, i love the centerpieces! meghan, everything looks fantastic! i love your magnets.. very cool and unique! and the back of your dress looks soooo good. very flattering on you! and i love the album idea! michele, i just looked up at your post and your ticker is in single digits!! YIKES! is it the 24th yet?? (when we leave.. that's all i want right now!)

oh no! i hope i didn't start the trend of the nightmares! mine always have something to do with timing and someone not being there when they need to (me, photographer, etc.). there should be psychologists solely dedicated to brides to be! and cath, you're so close!! we won't be far behind!

tracy i definitely think that looks better! my only concern would be whether the flame from the candle would mess with the flower at all. i'm tempted to say either flower or candle, but not both? if you want the extra pop of color from the flowers though, absolutely keep them!

tracy, i think maybe if you just put sand in the bottom of the vases, but left the flowers it would still look good!

tracy.. post a picture and maybe we can help better that way? nybeachbride.. your legal day sounds very cool! so nice that they gave it such a personal touch! hoyt, you stuff looks great and you should be very proud of it all! here's hoping that everything gets done for you today!! you guys aren't joking about people asking little questions right near the end. one of my FSILs (who is also a BM) sent me a message yesterday asking where in the dominican republic we were going. ummm.. what how do you not know that by this point i'm handing out the rest of the OOT bags to jeremy's family tomorrow at his bday dinner so hopefully that will answer most of their questions. going through security with 18 people is what scares me the most! once we're sitting at our gate i will be just fine!!

i don't think i'll ever see a picture of huppah before we get down there... don't worry though, we are using it so you guys will get to see it! there was actually a bride i have been emailing with who was there for a while in march and she never saw anyone use it, otherwise she would have taken a picture. jenise, thank you so much for asking... court date is next thursday (the 8th) to find out about jeremy's daughter coming to the wedding. fingers, toes, eyes.. everything is crossed for that one! i will keep you all posted of course! toya.. 8 saturdays? that's nuts! i have THREE until we leave... that is a frightening realization! i remember when my ticker was so far out that the sand dollar was just stuck on 12. those were the days!

thanks everyone! i love my flowers and everything too.. the flowers are real touch and they were arranged by my mom's friend who does flower arrangements and is trying to break into the wedding business! meghan, that spongy feeling is exactly how the orange callas are in mine.. it's pretty neat i think and they are basically indestructible! natasha, your girls' dresses are beautiful!! and yours is as well. i think it'll look great with or without the necklace.. totally a personal decision. the bustle is gorgeous too. it looks really neat with the way your dress gathers off to the side! tracy, you crack me up with all of your labels! good for you for setting that girl straight though. if she hasn't booked at this point, what are the odds she will at all?

i don't plan on tipping Deyanira unless she does something simply spectacular, especially because we're not having the reception there. maybe i'm just crazy?? and speaking of crazy, i went nuts with wedding things this past weekend and got a ton of things done off my list. it helped that i finally got all of my flowers and i could take pictures and get them ready to go. a lot of my things left are just preparing for the trip like getting cash, stopping our mail, etc.

michelle.. send bahiabride a PM and double check when she's getting back vs. when you're leaving. as long as there's enough time between there we can add you!

here are a few more... OOT bags (there are pool floats you can't see real well): My rings: FI's bands: Reception table set-up:

wow! entirely too much to catch up on from this weekend, but i do have to update that i went "wedding crazy" this weekend and knocked out a TON of stuff that was on my to-do list! i took pictures of all sorts of stuff and got all of my flowers, etc.! here are a couple pictures of things just to brighten your days! my bouquet: BM bouquet (colors look a little washed out, i'm no pro!): FI's bout: GM bout: