islandbride317

Hi, Jon'el -- CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement & WELCOME to BDW!!! I think you will find that this site will become the single *most* important tool available to you during your wedding-planning process -- I KNOW it was for me! Very best wishes as you're planning your way, toward walking down the aisle on your Big Day!! ~ Christie

Hi, Bek -- CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement & WELCOME to BDW!!! I think you will find that this site will become the single *most* important tool available to you during your wedding-planning process -- I KNOW it was for me! Very best wishes as you're planning your way, toward walking down the aisle on your Big Day!! ~ Christie

Hi, Jen -- CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement & WELCOME to BDW!!! I think you will find that this site will become the single *most* important tool available to you during your wedding-planning process -- I KNOW it was for me! Very best wishes as you're planning your way, toward walking down the aisle on your Big Day!! ~ Christie

Hi, Dena -- CONGRATULATIONS on your friend on her engagement & WELCOME to BDW!!! I think you and she will find that this site will become the single *most* important tool available to during the wedding-planning process -- I KNOW it was for me! ~ Christie

Hi, Melissa -- CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement & WELCOME to BDW!!! I think you will find that this site will become the single *most* important tool available to you during your wedding-planning process -- I KNOW it was for me! Very best wishes as you're planning your way, toward walking down the aisle on your Big Day!! ~ Christie

Hi, CosmicGirl -- CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement & WELCOME to BDW!!! I think you will find that this site will become the single *most* important tool available to you during your wedding-planning process -- I KNOW it was for me! Very best wishes as you're planning your way, toward walking down the aisle on your Big Day!! ~ Christie

Hi, prettylizy -- CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement & WELCOME to BDW!!! I think you will find that this site will become the single *most* important tool available to you during your wedding-planning process -- I KNOW it was for me! Very best wishes as you're planning your way, toward walking down the aisle on your Big Day!! ~ Christie

Thanks for the tips, Sheree and Dolfinluck! I'll def. be looking into your sugguestions, as well! And Rachel....yes! If it comes down to it and nothing else works out, I TOTALLY forgot (silly me!) that she could just pipe the "coral" onto the cake itself, add more seashells and starfish to the top of the cake, and it might still look pretty darn good afterall! Way to be thinking on your toes, girlie!

Thank you girls, for understanding WHY this is so upsetting, and for your excellent insight! @ Michelle -- I just may kill her....I just don't know if it will be with "kindness" yet or not! No seriously, I appreciate the suggestion on the approach and it just may do the trick after all so I'll give it a shot! @ Rachel -- I think you're 100% right that she is confused as to her role, but what I find frustrating is that I tried to explain to her in numerous meetings we've had about this AHR (and also when she also did a 'free' engagement shoot for us, but that is a whole other story....) and she's just not getting it! When I spoke to my Mom about it tonight, she pretty much said the same thing you did: she thinks that she's not sure "how" to shoot an event like ours, and has no idea what I mean by a more photojournalism/candid style. I agree that it is because she is somewhat inexperienced, and doesn't know how to operate without her set checklist of "must-do" wedding day shots to work from! Again, I appreciate all of your support and I'll let you know how it all pans out for sure! HUGS!

I am so, so sorry for your loss, Chris...what a terrible time this must be for you and your family. (I was also not able to share my wedding day with any of my grandparents either, so my heart really goes out to you.) Just remember all of your relatives who have passed already WILL be there with you, guiding you down the aisle, in spirit...

Quote: Originally Posted by SDSteph You can try this number! 501-988-2400 cakes by sam They sell pre made cake fondant and gumpaste cake decorations I would just ask them if they can make the coral and ship it to you or your decorator. Good luck OMG, Steph!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I just checked out their website and I think I might just be in luck!! And THANK YOU to everyone else who's responded...they are all excellent suggestions, and I feel a whole lot better about finding a way to "Have my cake, and EAT the coral on it, too!

I ended up working with BDW member "becks" (her company is Allurements by Rebecca) and we created this for our patches, which she printed up and mailed to me, and then I IRONED them on! Here's what we did: I figured that since this design only uses our monogram (which some people who don't know any better might just think are the initials for a resort, perhaps?) and it just says, "Ocho Rios, Jamaica", maybe our guests would be more likely to use it again. And the good news is, from what I hear, some are still using them to take things to the beach and the pool this summer!! Mission accomplished!

I NEED YOUR HELP, LADIES!! So, I am having this cake replicated for my AHR: Pretty cute, right? I thought so, too! Well, the only problem is that the baker who is making it has never made "coral"! Yep, even though she's made a million seashell/beach-themed cakes, she said she may have to leave one of my favorite aspects of the cake (which is the coral) off now! BUMMER!! Or....can one of you PLEASE SAVE THE DAY and recommend a website where I can BUY edible coral and just have it delivered to my baker so she can still put it on the cake after all? (NOTE: I don't have a preference on what it's made of, or come to think of it, even if it's edible or not at this point!!) Any suggestions, girls? THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!

So....we've all heard the saying a million times, "don't mix business and pleasure" but I didn't think that extended to booking my long-time best friend's mom as one of my at-home reception vendors! It seemed perfect at first....now all I can say is WHAT WAS I THINKING?!!! Here's my RANT The issue is that my best friend of 19 years (since we were 11) has a mother who is a local photographer. She's always been very pleasant to me and my family, so when we were looking for an affordable photographer for our AHR, (and she said she'd offer us a discount for her services if we decided to go with her) it seemed like a no-brainer. And, so even though I'm not terribly impressed with her work (it's not bad, it's just really, really "basic" and "posed" whereas I prefer more of a photojournalism/candid style), it seemed like a good deal since it's just our AHR, but BOY, was I wrong! After we gave her the deposit and signed the contract month and months ago, she's been trying to pressure us to spend a fortune with her (as my friend informed me that she hasn't had that many clients recently), and is giving me attitude about how we'd like her to shoot our event that day!! WHAT THE !!! We had our final consulation with her earlier this week, and she was getting really rude when I said, as our wedding will have been 3 months earlier at the time the AHR takes place, we didn't want to do the following: - no "getting ready" shots are needed (already did that in Jamaica) - no bouquet toss - no garter toss - no receiving line when we arrive - no speeches other than my husband and I thanking our guests before dinner - no rice or bubbles or whatever when we leave Basically, she was REALLY challenging me on the fact that I'd like my AHR to be a fun party where family and friends happen to be a little more dressed up and there is wedding cake and dancing -- that's it! She's like, "Well, what do you even need me there for then, Christie?" with an attitude and I was simply blown away!! I wanted to tell her, "Can't you just be respectful of how I want to do things, particularly since you are my best friend's mother" or do you think that is WHY she thinks it's acceptable to try to speak to me like a child?! Maybe because I grew up with her daughter, she doesn't see me as a "regular" paying client?! I've already (cautiously) discussed this with my BF, so I know it won't effect our friendship, but I don't really need this irritation from someone who's supposed to be a "friend of the family", either! THANKS for hearing me out, ladies...otherwise, I was probably going to go off the deep end!

I'm in the same boat, girls! Not for my DW itself, but for my AHR that is less than a month away now! We ended up with an intimate party of 10 guests (plus my husband and I) in Jamaica in May, and for us, the smaller the better for our DW....but NOW, we've sent out invitations to all of our family and friends who said before they'd "LOVE!" to come to a local reception in we were going to have one, and now my replies are barely trickling in, with only 1 week remaining until the "reply by" date we put on the cards! My question is this: Does someone think verbally saying to me months ago "count me in" in sufficient, and that I will just know by osmosis that they are coming?! And what's even more noteworthy is that some of the worst "non-responders" are friends of mine that are brides-to-be (or recently married) themselves!!! WTF?!?!

Janine....not all USPS offices are like this one, I promise you! Now, let me preface this by saying that although my husband doesn't work as a clerk at the front counter, he has been a Postal Carrier for the past 5 years, and I can assure you that bullsh*t like this would NOT be tolerated at his office! I feel so awful for you that you've had such a terrible experience! And even though my man works for the post office, I too ordered my wedding stamps (the White Cake ones for the invites, the Gold ring ones for the rsvps) ONLINE! I just didn't want or need the hassle of wondering if my local office even had those designs, so I just went straight to the internet from the get-go and avoided the drama altogether! But anyway, I'm not trying to speak on behalf of the entire USPS, but please don't let that beotch color your entire opinion of the valuable service they provide as a whole! Just remember, although it's sad: rude, careless idiots and a-holes work EVERYWHERE!

My invitations were also "sans parents" since the bulk of the cost was on us. We had our invitations read as follows: One love. Two hearts. Their future starts, beside the sea. The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage ceremony of BRIDE'S NAME and GROOM'S NAME on (spell out the day of the week, month, and year) at (spell out what time of the day it will be) SPELL OUT THE NAME OF THE RESORT SPELL OUT THE AREA, COUNTRY (in which you DW is taking place) There you have it, sugar!

Of couse, but....You're so welcome! And thanks for letting me know about the OTW suites at Sandal Grande St. Lucia! Oh and btw, I had a mini-honeymoon just after my wedding (which took place at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios) at Sandal Royal Caribbean and I was truly LESS than impressed with that resort, which we paid MORE money to stay at for 3 nights than we did for 4 nights at SGOR! BOTH my husband and I were more delighted with most everything at SGOR when comparing the two within the same week! Just our opinion....

I can't BELIEVE that Misti ended up being a fraud!! I was ALSO one of the brides who got the FREE names-in-the-sand pics from her and I thought she would have been totally legit! WHO KNEW?!? I AM SOOOOO SORRY that all of you have had these nightmarish experiences with her -- some of my photos with the photographer I booked in Jamaica for our TTD weren't exactly what you'd "see in a magazine", but I felt like I knew what I was getting into for what I paid, and I was prepared to deal with the consequences of not having the photo budget I would have preferred. But, I am so upset that she is messing around with your memories of the most important day of your lives....SHAME ON YOU, MISTI ABNER DOUGLAS!!

@ Miss_Delerium -- your Uncle sounds like a royal a-hole (NICE book, btw, and if it WAS a joke, he should have made it clear that it was!) and I 110% support you in not wanting him there, since he obviously doesn't support your relationship choices anyway! SO again MSMARMAR123, just remember that it is YOUR special day with your fiance, and there shouldn't be anyone invited who will make you feel unhappy, uncomfortable or in the least bit stressed just by their presence. Look at it this way: If YOU made someone really uncomfortable, do you think they would invite YOU to THEIR wedding, just because they thought they had to?! Probably not, so try to remember that when sending out those envelopes!

Quote: Originally Posted by Thomasjsgirl The only way to make sure your guest remains in the range you're comfortable with, is to simply not invite everyone ... but ... having said that, from my own experience we invited all of our family and friends knowing full well that not everyone would come. We lucked out as only 42 showed up (out of a possible 250). It was a risk, but definitely ensured there were no ruffled feathers! Ditto! We knew that even though 50 invitations went out for our actual DW in Jamaica, that we would end up with a small group anyway, based on the economy and other factors -- and sure enough, we were a group of 10 plus the bride and groom! But, NOBODY can say they weren't invited/included, now can they?! But alas, we're running into another situation: who can we afford to invite vs. who do we WANT to invite! We ended up figuring that since we had already invited EVERYONE to the wedding in Jamaica, we felt that no one could really be upset if they weren't invited to the AHR (since we had already tried to include them and they declined). This was not meant to be spiteful; it's just that we can't invite everyone under the sun since WE are paying for everything and can only invite the people we REALLY would like to have there. So, we have gotten back a few "no's" so far, but we had to be prepared to pay for each and every person we sent an invitation to if they all said "yes" -- you've got to draw the line somewhere!

Quick Question: do you know which of the St. Lucia properties it was?

First of all, TAJennifer.... I would like to offer you a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS on making it through your speech in front of all the Sandals bigwigs....I can only imagine how nerve-racking it must have been, and you should be so very proud of yourself for digging deep and pulling through beautifully! (And I've had to do a little public speaking myself, so I know that crazy-shaky feeling all too well; you just prayed no one noticed, right? I just hold the glass with both hands, drink from it like a toddler, and hope not to spill any on myself!) And I am really VERY excited to hear about the over-water improvements to the St. Lucia property -- how cool! I just watched "Couples Retreat" (filmed at the St. Regis in Bora Bora) and those types of suite looked absolutely out of this world, but you're right, the cost I can imagine would be too extreme for "real people" to afford.....so glad to hear that my new husband and I might have a future dream anniversary destination that is within reach! As always, EXCELLENT work and thanks for all that you do!

Whew! Even though I don't want to freak you out....you need to go get a dress ASAP, girl!! Just kidding, but seriously keep in mind that some private/non-chain bridal salons (if you're going that route, that is) need atleast 6 months to order your gown, and then when it arrives, you need to allow time for any alterations that might be necessary, so get to shopping, sweetie! I just don't want you to be any more stressed than necessary in the 11th hour GOOD LUCK and be sure to post LOTS of pics of your bridal gown shopping adventures in the "Wedding Attire" section -- we *heart* photos!! And congrats on your 5 year Anniversary....even though my husband and I just got married 2 months ago, we'll also be together for 5 years coming up this July 20th!

@ Carolina24 and Cindy -- THANK YOU so much, GIRLS! As of tomorrow, my AHR is only 1 month away...then the big reveal of the new reception dress & shoes! Can't wait! And MysTea -- can you say "fabulous"?!?! They're so sparkly and beautiful, and look really comfortable to wear too! CONGRATS!