amandseth

Llama, I'm getting VERY excited! I've got my shower and stagette this weekend(decided to do them together to accommodate out of town guests), and I'm pretty excited about that! Mom has rented an entertainment room at my aunts condos and is hosting the shower there. Then the stagette will begin later in the afternoon with some rollerskating (old school style) at a roller rink. Then moving on to a brewery for a tour and tasting. Will order in pizza there. Mom booked us a couple of rooms on Whyte Ave(trendy bar/shops district), so we'll go get dolled up, then head out to a martinin bar to start and finishing off at a country club for dancing. At 28, I don't do much clubbing these days, I think I've been out dancing twice in the last three years, so needless to say I'm super excited. I'll definitely share photos upon my return from Mexico!! That is assuming I've accrued enough points to be able to do that... anyone know how the points thing works? I'm on here almost every day, and yet I still can't seem to download attachments and stuff.... We're getting married, legally, on October 23rd with my nana and papa as witnesses. They will not be joining us in Mexico, and I know they will be honored to still get to play a part. We haven't decided where yet, will likely depend on the weather that day.

Good luck finding your dog, Ashley! I can't imagine how I'd feel if I lost mine. Hang in there, girl!

My fiance agreed to Ephotos if we could do them ourselves (also hates having his picture taken). Luckily we have a professional camera, so we took it with us on a backcountry hike in the Rockies and got a few nice shots. It wasn't exactly what I'd had in mind, but it was enough to satisfy me, and since I'm getting a TTD session, I'm not pushing it! lol!

My fiance's parents offered up help right from the get go. So did mine. My fiance's parents are a bit more well off though, and their contirbution has actully exceeded the contribution from my parents, though neither knows what the other has contributed. Both sets offered the money to help toward paying for the wedding and said the remainder of what is not spent will be our wedding gift. Needless to say, this has made my fiance VERY budget conscious. lol. Personally, I think it's an out of date tradition to expect the brides family to take on the entire cost of a wedding. but I empathize with not wanting to ask for their help. I'm sure, though, that they have something in store for the two of you as a wedding gift, considering they put 60 grand into your sil's wedding (how someone can justify spending that much is beyond me!!) Perhaps it will be enough to pay off some of your wedding costs?

Sgt Pepperette, have you checked out Light in the Box? (Wholesale - China Wholesale - Buy Wholesale Products from Chinese Wholesaler) A few girls have ordered their (WAY inexpensive) dresses from there, and you can choose to have them custom fit to your size, to avoid alterations. I wish I'd known about this site before I got my own dress, as I found one quite similar on there that I loved and was less than half the price. Search it on here, you may be able to get more feedback from teh girls who ordered off of there! Good luck! PS. My favors are sandalwood fans, which I'll leave on the guests seats at the ceremony.

Awww, damn. I was really looking forward to it being a real fondue. Oh well, I guess we're stuck with it now. Will just have to make the best of it. How disappointing!! Will look forward to the dessert!! Thanks for the info, ladies!

tcram, we had initially wanted the Mexican restaurant for the same reason. But since we came in over the surprise 40 person minimum, I told her we'd consider another restaurant in order to be accommodated. So we got stuck with the Fondue. I've thought about it though, and I think it'll be fun. Most people have never had a dinner fondue, plus it will buy us more time in the restaurant as fondue typically takes awhile to eat since you cook it at your table. Since we don't have set plans for after dinner, this seems like a good trade off. We have chosen the shrimp/salmon plate, but are allowed to opt for the chicken dish for our guests who don't eat seafood. So I've had to do a tally of what everyone will eat, but it's worked out ok. I'm sure they would give you the same option with the other restaurants... See you there!!

We're getting married on November 11th, it's coming up so quickly! I love your idea of hiring a catamaran, I agree, it's money better spent! I think if you make a big enough stink when it comes down to time to book the restaraunt, you'll win in the end. Afterall, none of this was revealed to you prior to booking the trip and providing the info to your guests. And you ARE bringing a lot of business their way. At this point you could even threaten taking your wedding elsewhere as I assume your final payments have not yet been made. The threat may be enough to get them to cooperate. Good luck with it!!

Llama, how frustrating for them to spring this on us AFTER booking, right?? My fiance was furious, I'm just irritated. Actually, the more I though about it, Fondue will be fun, not many people have ever really done a dinner fondue (only dessert), plus it buys us time in the restaurant, since it takes so long to eat it. We haven't planned anything for after dinner, couldn't afford the beach reception. I think we'll see how things go once we're there and just pick a place for all our guests to meet after dinner. Socialize, maybe hit the disco. I hear there is a place where you can provide a CD to the band and they will play a couple of songs of your choice for a first dance/family dance. Who knows? I'm kind of leaving it to chance. Since we're having an at home reception, we don't relly feel like we're ripping people off by not having an event planned. It'll be spontaneous. How many people are you at? When are you getting married? I told her I expect about 47, and they agreed to the Fondue stipulation. If it were over 50, I don't know if I'd be as confidant...

Patricia got back to me and, after "speaking with her manager" they've agreed to let me have my dinner in an ala carte. But they've got to put us in the Fondue restaurant, which wasn't my first choice. Oh well, fondue can be a lot of fun, I'll just have to be careful not to get it all over my dress! I'm more relieved than pissed at this point, but I'm not so sure my fiance is going to feel the same way. She did say that if no more book and we've got 41, they will let us stick with our first choice, but I really can't make her any garauntees, so I think I'm better off just committing to the fondue. alopez, there is another option of a banquet hall dinner, where you'd get the whole hall to yourselves. This starts around $35/plate, which at the very least is more affordable than $85 for a beach reception!! If I were you, I wouldn't panick just yet... lots of people have great intentions of coming, but as the time closes in they realize they don't have the time/resources to go. So you may be down to a managable number by the actual wedding date, and perhaps you can convince them to accommodate you with a few extra...

WARNING!! I heard from Patricia today, after sending her my ala carte preference and # of guests. We've currently got 41 booked, and perhaps a few straglers. She responded by saying, "About the guests, i remind you that our a la carte restaurants are not that big, we can`t fit that many people in the seating, the maximun are 40, so the 41 are ok. But my suggestion it`s to go for a private reception, it`s better for you because it`s more tiem and better service. I`m sending you the info." 'The Info' tells me that a private reception in a banquet hall starts at $35/plate and on the beach $85 per person! This is NOT in our budget, so I wrote back and told her this is the first I've heard of a limit, and we have not budgeted for it. I offered to change restarants if she thinks there is one a bit bigger to accommodate us. I'm really hoping that she's just trying to sell me on spending more $$ at the resort and that this is not going to be an issue!!! I will keep you all posted on how it pans out! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm not sure what to do with our vows.. those of you who are writing them yourselves, are you doing yours and he is responsible for his? Or are you doing them together and taking turns saying the same thing? I had initially asked my fiance if we could each write our own, and he was ok with that. But now he keeps saying he's going to write them the night before/already has written them, are just one sentence/or that I'm gonna laugh so hard... Now I'm nervous. lol. Which is likely his intent. We're doing the legal wedding here, so have the benefit of a good friend of ours overseeing the ceremony in Mexico. He's a script writer with a great sense of humour, and I've given him a basic outline with total creative lisence. I imagine it will be more humorous, so I'd like our vows, at least, to be meaningful and romantic. Any of you ladies comfortable sharing what you've put together?

I totally hear you. My MOH finally told me she wasn't going to make it, but would still take on the MOH duties. When it came time to plan the stagette, she got pissed off that I wanted to have input into the activities and refused to make it a weekend event, as I had indicated would be necessary since I had out of town guests coming in. Gave me three dates to choose from; Sept long weekend, Thanksgiving weekend or the weekend before the wedding. None of which suited me or my guests at all. When I told her this she had a fit and told me to plan it then. On top of it all, she told me every other weekend she was in school and would have to leave early to get to class the next day. I do a lot for this friend, I am goddaughter to her daughter and take on a huge amount of responsibility on a regular basis by caring for her daughter while she goes out of town to work for 4-5 days a month. I never get anything in return but a thanks, and have never asked for anything from her. I never resented that fact until this went down. I told her exactly how I felt about her actions, which ended with me crying on my end of the phone and her yelling on hers. I've been friends with this girl for 15 years. I am godmother to her daughter, so as frustrated as I was, this was not a friendship I was going to have destroyed by my wedding. Finally, I wound up telling her that I want her to be aware of how hurt I was, but she should do whatever makes her happy. In the weeks following, she has booked on a cheaper package to my wedding, and daily checks in with wedding inquiries. She's not the type to admit fault, but I can see through her actions that she is trying to make amends. I'm happy that I didn't throw the relationship away, and feel that there must've been more going on with her that I wasn't aware of the day(s) during this epic fallout. Could be your friend is jealous of your plans, or your dw, or may be stressed with her own planning or life. I'm sure her intent is not to hurt you, but she likely isn't thinking beofre she speaks. I know that for this friend, she felt really guilty about not being able to come due to $$, and it was frustrating for her when I pressured her. Maybe look into some cheaper options for your friend, even other resorts, and she could be there on a day pass for the wedding. I'm sure she'd appreciate the effort. And be honest with her. Just a simple, 'I was a bit hurt over the conversation we had yesterday' may prompt her to clarify her intent and make her check herself in the future. Good luck. Many friendships are ruined over this kind of thing. Don't be the statistic. It's one day compared to a lifetime.

It hit me like a tonne of bricks yesterday that I'm less than three months away from losing my name. Of course, from the time I met Wes, I loved the named 'Hunting' and wanted it for my own. But with all the excitement of planning, I hadn't thought at all about the fact that I'll lose the 'Mandseth' name. It's slightly heartbreaking. Don't get me wrong, I never was the sort of girl to keep her own name, or even hyphenate, but I think I may greive this loss a bit. I'm proud of my name, it's roots, you know? *tear* I was thinking of a rehearsal dinner, too, but I think I'm just going to try to get the wedding party and family together the night before and throw some tables together at the buffet. A couple of my wedding party aren't arriving until the day beforethe wedding anyway, so it'll be a good chance to get everyone on the same wavelength before the big day without suffering a huge hit to the budget.

I'm totally having the same dilemna! I've got OOT Bags for over 40 ppl and also oversized beachbags with pashminas and flipflops for (potentially) 9 people (my wedding party and the moms and sisters). And I only get one peice of luggage and one checked bag!! I'm definitely taking my dress carry on, and am requiring the same from the entire wedding party (don't want to lose the wedding day wardrobe!). Luckily, I've had offers from some of the men going to take some of this stuff. They figure they won't need an entire bag, and a few people have also booked with a different travel provider that allows two bags, so I'll be taking advantage of them as well. Delegate it out. Just make sure the people you are assigning it to are arriving on the same day as you! Something else I'm considering, my MOH is coming (YAY!) 4 days after most ppl and gets two bags+carry on(as does her bf). So rather than load her up with the gift/wedding items, which I'll need on day one to hand out, I'll have her bring me a bunch of clothes for my honeymoon week to follow.

Canadian brides, I just got three bikinis at Wal-Mart for around $50 total! Everything is discounted for summer clearance, so check it out, there is actaully some cute stuff there!!

I say trust your instincts. We tend to forget to listen to our 'sixth sense' sometimes, and I believe its likely the most perceptive one. Its certainly a personal thing as to where each womans boundaries are in terms of expectations in a relationship when it comes to involvement with other men/women. But I think that if you are having negative feelings about the situation, then it is valid and obviously there is stuff going on that you are not comfortable with. I agree with Janet, cut out the negative self talk! You are valuable and your feelings should be recognized and validated! Express that to him and ask him to consider how he'd feel if the roles were reversed. If he respects your level of comfort and need to feel secure in the relationship, he'll drop her. Or at least be conscious of his behaviour and more aware of what he can do to prevent you from feeling this way (ie. doing the breathing with you instead, not keeping you waiting etc). I think nicmicj's advice to write down what you want to say is great advice as well. It always helps me to sort out my feelings a bit before entering a serious conversation.

Yeah, I think that's what I'll have to do. And maybe I can salvage a little of the material from the other dresses to add an accent, like a sash or something. The not knowing if this is necessary is the worst part. Unnecessary stress! My new mantra is "Still lots of time to figure it out" I find myself repeating this several times a day. I have the same feeling as you, Sgt Pepperette! Like I should be doing something! I've managed to busy myself with the OOT Bags, but now those are almost done. So much of the planning/organizing happens at/by the resort! I'm restless! I booked my dress fitting and did some price comparisons on tux pants.... I got reamed out by my MOH for trying to help with the stagette. *blush* Just want to feel like I'm being productive!! lol What are you ladies working on now?? Maybe I'm missing something....

I have to admit, I really love the idea of having my grandparents be our witnesses, since they won't be able to attend the DW. Brought a tear to my eye. We had intended to just go ourselves, and not invite anyone except maybe a couple to witness. It's not just about everyone else experiencing the DW as the "real" event, but for myself as well. I don't want to feel like the paper signing is what actually seals the deal....

Hey Mandy! Mind if I chime in for today? How about avoiding convenience for the day to make us more active? For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park at the very back of the parking lot, or walking/riding your bike to work or on errands? These little things can really add up! By the way, knowing there is no way to beat my wine addiction, I've begun pouring half glasses and adding the other half in cranberry juice (pure, not cocktail, that's important). Eventually I may just start drinking the juice from a wine glass. Sneaky, eh? lol

Congratulations, Rosa! I have a dilemna... I initially had asked 4 ppl to be in my wedding party, 3 girls and a guy. I had one girl book (my cousin). My MOH then told me she would not be able to make it due to financial reasons. So I happily asked another cousin of mine to be in the wedding party. She booked. My brides man tells me he'll be booking this week. I've one girl left who also in financial straights and has still not given me a definite response. THEN my MOH decides that she is coming! And may stay at another resort to save on cost. Great! BUT now I've got potentially 4 bridesmaids, and a bridesman. I would have no issue with all of this, but I am having my bm's dresses made and only have enough fabric for three dresses. There is no way to get more. What to do?

Fibre it is! Will a bran muffin count, or does the flour/sugar off set any health benefits? I didn't have much luck with the challenge yesterday... a girlfriend came over and we polished off a bottle of wine. Oops. My biggest weakness. Anyone know a good 12-step program? lmao. Going to take on the water challenge again today, along with the fibre.

I'm in!! I just realized I'm 99 days til my wedding day and I'm panicking because I tired on a pair of pants this morning and they were tighter than usual! AHHHHH!!! I'm a huge fan of food, so my weight loss plans have not been going very well! Tip: I recently got a box of mini-freezies. 10 cals a peice, and they are great at satisfying cravings! Even if I eat 2 or 3, I'm still looking at less calories than a regular popsicle! Love the water idea! Will substitute for my glass of wine tonight!

Hey there, ladies! I can't seem to find any thread dedicated to Bachelorette parties, so I though I'd pose it here. What are your plans? I'm trying to find something a bit more low key to do, since bumping and grinding with 20 year olds isn't really my thing. Any suggestions? Trying to think outside the box here, hoping to do something original.

I also saw the $2 juts bags at Dollarama and am kicking myself for not waiting to get mine! They are gorgeous and a GREAT deal!! Check out the Dollarama, ladies!!!