breeze616

Quote: Originally Posted by Shoesiesluvr Bree I totally forgot to respond to you about this but I checked with both Jackie and DDWbridetobe and got the green light from both, so if you can please add me to this...heres the info requested, our traveling dates are 9/20/2010 -10/6/2010 and wedding location is Cancun Mexico. Thanks girl! Sweet! You're in! dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) Bahiabride2010 - July 3 - July 10th - Punta Cana 2 ) jackie_c - traveling 8/12 - 8/21 – Cancun 3 ) Shoesiesluvr - Sept 20, 2010 - October 6, 2010 Cancun, Mexico 4 ) DWbridetobe - October 30 - November 8, 2010, St. Lucia 5 ) breeze616 – December 6 – 16th Iberostar Rose Hall, Montego Bay 6 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 7 ) StephyD - March 27-April 10 2011 - Riviera Maya 8 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location

*Update* So my sisters wedding is done as of last weekend. It was sooo much fun. Guess what? Some of my family members who said they couldn't come to mine, had so much fun at her wedding, they said they really want to come! Bonus!! Plus, now that the air is cleared between us, she has been super-helpful, caring and attentive. Even the relationship between my new brother-in-law and my Fi has improved. So all-in-all everything is A-ok Thanks everyone for the support, I will be back!!

Thanks Ladies! I'm allll booked!! woot woot!! Ya, I sent out the email saying if your one of the first 10, you get this rate - so get on it! haha I did send out a pre-RSVP card with my save dates, so I had an idea of how many people wanted to come. But really, I know the RSVPs mean nothing. I certainly hope the 30 people who RSVP'd do come, but we'll see Good thing is my sister just got married last weekend, and my family had so much fun at her wedding that some of the stragglers have decided they want to come to mine! Sweet!

Thanks MayanLily, I'm dealing with Laurie and she's been pretty good so far. I'm booking my hotel and air separately (not with a tour operator) and flying with west jet, so I think the rates are seriously only held for however many people I put the deposit down for right away. I'm only putting it down for the required 10 people. My logic is that if peeps wanna wait forevs to book, its their issue to find a good rate - not mine! Quote: Originally Posted by MayanLily I think it actually depends on the package you choose. The signature package gave me 7 days... hence, me panicking and putting down 20 deposits to hold the price for everyone. Also, just so you know, Signature WILL NOT deal with you directly if you are booking through a travel agent. I called to ask a question about their flights and they wouldn't even talk to me. I was screaming "BUT IM THE BRIDE" I think Air Canada Vacations quote was good for 4 weeks. By the time I finally sorted out Signature screw up and decided to go with AC, my guests only had 2 weeks to put down their own deposits. Everything worked out great that way. It sort of forced my guests to come up with a decison. Which I'm happy I did because I hear other brides complaining alot about their "undecided" guests. Also, Tara Hartman is amazing at romantic planet!

Does anyone know of a Canadian Wedding Insurance company?

Hi Ladies! I'm not a Calgary Bride, but I received a great quote from Romantic Planet for my wedding guests and have read back in this read about some of your dealings with them - its been super helpful! So what I got overall from it was they are great to deal with, but that I shouldn't put down deposits for my guests and just get my guests to put their own deposits down within a certain timeframe? How long did they give you to get the deposits? Thanks Nades for directing me here!

Great thread! Thanks for posting!

Wonderful planning thread! I love how you incorporated your wave theme into everything, looks great!!

Great thread! Must be difficult planning such a far away destination wedding! Everything looks lovely

Great thread! Your dress and hair are stunning!

Cassie! Your planning thread is AWESOME! I love the doorhangers (Im stealing) and that cupcake stand is so creative!! Did you have a template for that?

Great thread! Thanks for posting!

Waaahhhh Wish those were my dates.... and my location... LOL

Well, I'm game for holding onto the lil guy as long as possible. I mean, its the history behind the little guy that makes him special, not what kinda shape he's in... If he's really not workin, maybe we can get a new one and keep the journal with him. Pretend its his brother taking over or something, lol. dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) Bahiabride2010 - July 3 - July 10th - Punta Cana 2 ) jackie_c - traveling 8/12 - 8/21 – Cancun 3 ) DWbridetobe - October 30 - November 8, 2010, St. Lucia 4 ) breeze616 – December 6 – 16th Iberostar Rose Hall, Montego Bay 5 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 6 ) StephyD - March 27-April 10 2011 - Riviera Maya 7 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location

Quote: Originally Posted by Shoesiesluvr Hello Gals!! Wanted to see if I could be added to this...so far i see that there is a blue and a clear starfish, if someone could please clarify if there are others... our traveling dates are 9/20/2010 -10/6/2010 Please let me know, this sounds soo awesome! Well, I think there is enough room for you in ours. I don't know where jackie_c is from, can you PM her and see if you think the postal service timing will work out ok? Also PM DWbridetobe and see if she is ok with it. I think 24 days should be plenty of time for it to travel from California to Toronto, but you may want to UPS it. If you can work it out with those two, I will add you

Hey Ladies, I have found that most of good quality photographers in Jamaica are pretty pricey. I got really lucky snagging a local (Toronto) photographer to come with me just before she got really big. She gave me an amazing deal but her packages now start at double what I am paying - she is really good. I know alot of other BDWers who got great pricing from Nate Broshot. He's a destination wedding photog based out of the states who takes amazing photos. Worth a shot! license to Still

Quote: Originally Posted by bahiabride2010 Hooray!! This means he's coming to me!! July 7th is coming so quickly...can't wait to for our wedding day!! Yay! So exciting! Quote: Originally Posted by dc22173 It is great to see that so many brides are benefiting from the starfish! This is awesome and it brings a smile to my face I can not believe how many places it has been to already!!! Does anyone know if the journal is still floating around? Thanks so much dc22173 for giving us such a great experience! I will get some photos of the journal and post them when he comes to my wedding dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) Bahiabride2010 - July 3 - Punta Cana 2 ) jackie_c - traveling 8/12 - 8/21 – Cancun 3 ) DWbridetobe - October 30 - November 8, 2010, St. Lucia 4 ) breeze616 – December 6 – 16th Iberostar Rose Hall, Montego Bay 5 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 6 ) StephyD - March 27-April 10 2011 - Riviera Maya 7 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location Thanks!

Thanks ladies for your support. FYI, my sister has already sent me emails with centerpiece ideas and some ideas that I mentioned I was considering for my bachlorette. So things are much better. I really just wish I would've been honest in the first place and not caused the stress between us, which is why I have shared this experience with you ladies. I'm sure everything will work out between us, we've always been close and we always will be.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bride2Be21 I keep gently saying..wow thats kinda close...but I really wanna say &*%$#@%!!!! LOL well hopefully something will change. Sorry I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I hope hope hope you get the wedding of your dreams. pshhht. You didn't hi-jack at all! I tried being gentle too, it didn't work. Seriously just tell her; its completely up to them to have their wedding whenever they want, but to try to think about how all the guests are going to feel having to shell out so much money in the same time frame. You will both suffer from having guests spend LESS at all your events and/or having to choose between them cuz of costs. Your guests will also think both of you are inconsiderate for not spacing them out (even though that wasn't YOUR choice). If you put it that way, not about YOU, maybe they'll think about it. If they don't change it, then atleast you know you did what you could. Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by JanineA Wow! I just had to read through this post because I witnessed something sort of similar with a friend of mine. They are twins, one was getting married and the other didn't know how else to steal the spotlight so she announced she was pregnant....which she wasn't at the time. She didn't show up to to ceremony to be her sister's MOH but she did show up to the reception announcing she was pregnant. Long story short they didn't speak for 1 year. Twins! Sad! I know that your sister acted wrongly and a bit selfish but I do hope that somewhere in all of the madness she can realize what she did and though she can't change it now, perhaps she can step up to the plate of being there for you and going above and beyond. Don't fault her for not giving ideas...not everyone is creative and perhaps compared to the ones you have given her, she may think hers are poor. I hope in the end you both have your special days...with your own memories and each with its own uniqueness. And maybe a long well deserved family vacation can be planned where you both take your mom on vacation to make up for her 60th (because with both your weddings mom certainly has her hands full). In the end I know its tough but it will work out. I just hope it works out amicably. Good luck! Good point about the lack of idea's, I didnt think of that. while she is definitely creative, she is more wishy-washy. She tends to ask everyone's opinions on her creative idea's and change the idea based on their input, whereas I tend to know what I want and stick with it. She probably knows that too. Thanks for the advice.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bride2Be21 same happened to me..but its my fiancees sister and it was a month later. They want to get married a month apart from us. Going to be tough. oooh, that close? wow that IS going to be tough. My best advice, as I said - be honest, tell them you don't think its a good idea for them to be so close together. If they keep it that way, at least you know you said your piece, and when they'll know you were right.

Alright Ladies, I said I'd keep you posted so I am. We are t-minus two weeks from my sister's wedding, and a few days past my 30th bday and basically.. things did not go so well. While we were excited to SHARE the planning process, the past 6 months have been entirely all about her (which in hindsight, ya, we are all SWAMPED in our last 6 months before the wedding right?) and while I've sent her a ton of ideas (most of which she used) and links etc, she hasn't given me one. not a single link, idea, whateva. So basically, I have 5 months left when I have her attention, and basically my closest families attention because they've been wrapped up in hers too. The other major thing of course is the expense, I've watched my savings dwindle in supporting her shower, bachlorette and stag and doe parties, and also had to listen to my closest family (sisters and parents) complain about how their savings towards my wedding trip are being eaten up by her wedding too. And I have friends who simply did not go to her parties because they couldn't afford to go to hers AND mine - which is totally understandable, but I feel both of our parties' will suffer the same fate. My 30th bday weekend was squeezed between her bachlorette and her wedding and so I had to make my celebrations as simple and affordable for my friends/family as possible (def not the Vegas 30th I always wanted) and my Mother's 60th birthday was spent sewing her tablecloths and runners for her wedding. My Mom was supposed to have an all-expenses paid trip to Vegas with her sister, but her sister said that with both weddings this year, she couldn't afford to take her. Obviously, I didn't really forsee these things happening, or not in this detail. So as more and more issues started coming on my radar - I finally let loose on her a few days ago and told her she never should of put her wedding in this year. I told her EVERYTHING and about how much everyone had to sacrifice and that she should be aware of it to atleast try to make it up to them. She of course wishes that I had said something about my sourness towards her wedding date a long time ago instead of two weeks before. Which she has a point about. Though I did tell her it was a big year, and she should really think about it, and I told my Mom to try to talk her out of it. But I didn't want to come out and 'No, I dont think you should.' When really, that's exactly what I should have done. I thought she would think about everyone else's position in this, but she didn't. She is a bit selfish, and always has been. She's aware of her selfishness too, she sent out a public email to everyone with one of her New Year's resolutions being 'to be less selfish'. Maybe it would of been different if my sister had shown any remorse towards how my Mom had to spend her 60th or if she HAD sent me any ideas for my wedding, or any number of issues that were mishandled in my opinion, but if I had been honest from the beginning, she probebly would have delayed her wedding, and none of this would have happened. I write all of this because I want any future brides to learn from it. If anyone close to you does something that you feel is disrespectful to you and your special day - be honest and tell them right away. The last thing you want is for resentment to build-up and build-up until you did what I did and explode on her I'm pretty sure things will remain weird between us for a while. But then maybe she will step up to the plate and be very helpful for the next 5 months. I plan on making her my slave, so we'll see!! hahaha If she does try to make up for it, the blow-out will be worth it, but if I feel she isn't holding her end, it will change our relationship forever and that will suck balls. Again... I will keep you posted!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by StephyD Do we know if the clear starfish is fixable? The last bride did mention that the stick was broken off from it. If it won't stay in the bouquet well enough, I might buy my own... I wouldn't want to loose it somewhere on the beach while taking pictures! Ya, I hear that! The current holder of the starfish is on her honeymoon. We can ask her when she returns. I sure hope its fixable!

Fantastic review Di! Your wedding was so beautiful. Congrats!

dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) future mrs. kt ellis - June 5 - Scottsdale, AZ 2 ) Bahiabride2010 - July 3 - Punta Cana 3 ) jackie_c - traveling 8/12 - 8/21 – Cancun 4 ) DWbridetobe - October 30 - November 8, 2010, St. Lucia 5 ) breeze616 – December 6 – 16th Iberostar Rose Hall, Montego Bay 6 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 7 ) StephyD - March 27-April 10 2011 - Riviera Maya 8 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location Thanks