jennaLynn544

I agree, you look gorgeous either way but in looking at your pics I leaned more towards the brunette look because you just look so classically beautiful! I was debating whether to keep my very blond locks for my wedding day or start going darker so I would have a brunette shade for my big day. I have decided to stay lighter, though, since my hair is naturally blond & I figured going darker would be a waste of money spending over a week in Jamaica under the hot, hot sun...I'd be fading my color terribly! After my wedding, I really do want to try going towards a brunette color. I think dark hair is gorgeous & I am so jealous of all the dark-haired beauties out there! Good luck deciding!

Ladies, I truly appreciate all of your feedback on this I especially loved reading your additional thoughts on ways to help this go more smoothly & TamaraDan thank you for sharing your sister's experience with doing this for her ceremony...I just adore the idea of presenting the charm necklace to her as a gift/part of their vows...we are going to have to start shopping around for a beautiful necklace our little angel can have for a lifetime...she is a vital member of our little family! I am SO glad I found this forum...you have all been nothing short of helpful

Quote: Originally Posted by finleys7 If you are trying to lose weight, please please please understand that 85% of weight loss is DIET and not exercise. Everything in moderation!!!! Ohh, ish! And here I was telling my FI that if I probably just got off my ass & started being dedicated to daily workouts that I could probably continue on with my normal diet of eating whatever I want, whenever I want..dang it! I truly am going to begin exercising at least 4 days a week. I have been trying to get to the store to buy a DVD to workout w/ at home & tonight, with my younger bro, sis, & stepdad I ran a mile! haha! It was hilarious b/c I haven't RAN a mile since 11th grade (bout 6 years ago)...I think my senior year I chose to walk the entire thing since we were given the option...& I haven't been involved in a physical activity (mine was dance) since highschool. It was tough...my time was 11:14...so, I am going to give it another try on Sunday..my FI said he is going to do it with me this time, so I may be taking up running...who knows?!

I opted for an ivory gown...I didn't even really pay attention to the colors of the gowns I was pulling to try on or the ones anyone else pulled for me. I know aside from wedding gowns, I am not a huge fan of white (after reading what other members have posted this may be b/c of my skin-tone/coloring)...I have always felt that white makes my teeth look less than white (& they aren't yellow or anything)--I'm weird I guess...haha! But when I narrowed it down to my 2 fav dresses they were both ivory, so it must have just been that the color looked the most flattering on me. I have blond hair & fair skin...even w/ a tan, which I WILL have a tan before we leave for Negril, the ivory looked the very best. I would go for the color that flatters your coloring the best (your hair & skin)...either color will look great on the beach IMO, I wouldn't really stress about that very much

I was wondering if any of you other ladies have daily weight fluctuations? Let me explain what brought about this silly question...I have been reading through this forum (for tips, encouragement, ambition, etc.) & noticed that several women say things like "I weighed myself when I woke up this morning & had lost 2 lbs.!". I am just curious because can this be a result of a person's diet/exercise regime the previous day or because of normal weight fluctuations?? I just know that personally my weight fluctuates several times throughout a 24 hour period. When I wake up is typically my lightest point of the day...for example, if I weighed myself before bed & then again the next morning I can be anywhere from 1-3lbs lighter EVERY morning. So, how do you ladies truly gauge your actual weight loss? If I set a goal to lose 5lbs. I would have to say that my goal is to weigh between 114-119 because on any given day (without diet or exercise...just my normal day to day physical & eating routines) I weigh 119-123...lol--hope this makes sense to someone else out there! hahah!

I have thought about doing OOT bags, but I have not yet figured out the details yet (like if I will just make one for every room, or per person, or what I will include in them) we will def. not do favors...I just think it would be unnecessary considering we are only having 21-26 ppl & just seems to small of a group to do favors. Anyway, I am def. checking out the OOT threads for ideas, if you're interested I would do the same to figure out what you are going to decide. Good luck

Congrats!! Seeing your pics makes me that much more excited to be a bride this Jan.!! Best wishes to you & your HUBBY

If I were in your position, I would definitely wait until mid-October to select & purchase your gown. Typically, 6 months prior to your wedding date is more than enough time to order, pick up, do a fitting, & get alterations before your big day...so you could give yourself a month & a half to see where you are in terms of your weightloss goals...if you've lost weight by then you may be able to tell where your body is going to lose weight the most/fastest & which parts may take more work...this could help you decide what dress shape will flatter you the most. If you wait to purchase your gown, I would still order the size you fit in at the time you try it on in the store. Have you lost 30 lbs before? Do you know what size you will be after the 30 lbs comes off? I would be careful w/ this (but that's just me). Good luck!

Thanks for asking this, I didn't even know about the whole wearing your wedding band closest to your heart thing, so I guess I'll have to figure out what to do w/ my e-ring during the ceremony. Great post!

Great point! That would make the whole thing go MUCH more smoothly

So, we are not having a bridal party (BMs, groomsmen, MOH, etc.) it's just going to be us up there. We have a daughter, Sienna, & at the time of our wedding she'll be 18 months old. She is already walking around & getting really good at it, fast. I was brainstorming a while ago about ways to include her, considering her young age... I was thinking we could find a chain necklace & put our rings on it & have her wearing it around her neck. We could have her walk down the aisle to us (with the help of my younger sister--she's 11) I could then have my sister remove the necklace from our daughter's neck & have her give us the rings. I don't know...? Does this seem corny? Or cute? I was thinking it could be a creative way to incorporate our daughter into our ceremony & also let my (only) sister play a role---she's too young to be an actual MOH...so, what do you ladies think? Obviously, we'd make sure my sister or someone else is watching Sienna the whole time with the necklace on, so she doesn't end up strangling herself or anything horrific like that!

Ladies, thank you all so much for the feedback! It's nice to get unbiased opinions on things like this I think my search for a change might come from the fact that since becoming a Mom I feel like I need to have a more "mature" look...who knows?! I talked it over w/ my future MIL & she was saying I may want to look "myself" in my wedding photos & not have pics taken w/ totally different hair. She kinda has a point there, I guess I will just wait until AFTER my wedding to try any drastic changes...I was even thinking about going to one of those places in our mall that sell wigs to get a better idea of how I'd look...hmm

Congrats, Tammy! I am getting married 1.25.10 in Negril...hope you enjoy planning your Jamaican wedding!

Welcome to the forum & congrats! I am getting married at Beaches Negril in Jan. 2010...so I can't help you with Turks & Caicos specifically. I recommend taking a good look at the Jamaica forum. I have also seen pics from Beaches weddings & wasn't impressed with their "pro" photos. We have figured out an alternate plan for wedding photography...def. come check out the Jamaica threads, you'll find tons of help & info there! Good luck planning

Welcome to the forum! You'll find tons of pricing info here

Congrats, Courtney! Welcome to the forum, you'll find tons of helpful information here

Congrats, Kate! Have fun planning

Hi Stacey! I just joined this site not to long ago...I am getting married 1.25.10 at Beaches Negril. I recommend checking out the Jamaica thread to learn more about the different sites & resorts in Ochos Rios. Good luck planning & congrats!

Congrats, Nikki! You'll find loads of helpful info here Good luck!

Congrats, Brooke! You'll find plenty of information here Good luck!

#2 & #1 are both beautiful fits on you! They hug your body in all the right places...I really couldn't pick out of those two...that's a tough one! Good luck!

I voted for #2...the brown on #1 seems to drastically dress down the shoes, although they are adorable they just don't seem to do much for your gown. #3 shoes are just too "office wear" looking...it's probably just a personal thing, but I think for a DW you def. want to go with something somewhat "open-toe".

Hi ladies! Can't remember if I posted here yet or not...I think I may have a few pages back. Anyway, I am getting married 1.25.10 at Beaches Negril. Am I understanding this right?...there IS only one WC at this Beaches location? (Amber)....I have NOT gotten a hold of her yet. Basically, we keep playing phone tag...& this is weird because I stay at home all day with my baby...so it shouldn't too hard to get a hold of one another. I called her & left a message & it took her 2 days to get back to me! I was expecting her to call later in the day...guess, I have high expectations?! LOL Anyway, since I have not spoken to here ONCE yet & we've had this wedding booked since July...I am getting a little worried. I know there is still time, but I would have liked to have had my questions answered by now. I am def. going to have to make some time to go through & read this entire thread. Thanks for having this!

There was definitely a point when I felt bad...like, when we told our FRIENDS the date & where we'd be going (not a surprise on the location, since we knew almost right away & have been engaged for 1.5 years now) they said they weren't going to be able to afford it. It was a huge disappointment right away because we wanted both family AND friends to be there. Considering our age (I'm 22, he's 24)...our friends are all still either finishing up college or just newly graduated...meaning they don't have a ton of extra money to spend. We could've just decided on doing the more traditional wedding & have it in our hometown but this isn't what WE wanted to do. You must remember that this is you & your FI's day not anyone elses! So, if you both really have your heart set on a DW, then everyone else is just going to have work with that. It may sound selfish to some people but you & your FI should be, because it's your wedding day & you both gotta be happy with how you celebrate it...it's all about making memories, too, & who wouldn't want to remember getting married at an exotic location & experiencing new things together! When FI & I were bummed about our friends telling us they wouldn't be able to go...we even offered to pay for our 2 best friends (they happen to be dating, too)...they STILL said they wouldn't go...even after FI said they wouldn't need to worry about paying us back anytime soon, just whenever they manage to save up the money! With enough advance it's definitely possible to make a trip happen...it just requires some self control & planning...putting away a certain amount of money each month & budgeting your monthly expenses...I guess some people can't adopt this concept, though..? Even if it were just you & your FI...you'd still have an amazing time together!

Ladies, I would like to get an idea of what most couples pay for wedding photography, considering we are all doing DWs...prices can be different from those who chose to go the traditional route for their special day. Our wedding is going to be at Beaches Negril Resort & Spa...I have heard different things about the photography services they provide at this resort. They don't show examples of their work...I've heard the "pro photographers" are actually just the resort employees...some have even said (in their own opinions) the quality of the photos isn't that great. Photos are important to me, so I was trying to think of possible alternatives..since Beaches does not allow 3rd party vendors on their property for services THEY provide. I know a girl who is just starting out as a photographer & since she is still building her "wedding portfolio" she is willing to give us a good deal on a photo package. Here is what she said she could do for us... -"getting ready" photos -full coverage of ceremony & reception -family/guest photos -our wedding day session photos (just FI & I) -TTD session the day after our wedding -She will give us 3 CDs w/ all the fully edited images (one CD w/ ALL images...in case we want any photos she doesn't chose to edit) -She promised to fully edit 400 images -We own full rights to ALL images she includes on all 3 CDs (so, 400+ images)...so we can reproduce as many images as we want -We may choose to order prints through her or order prints from wherever we so chose. I offered to pay her round-trip airfare & hotel stay for 3 nights ($1500) & she said she'd give me all of the above for a price of $800...so, $2300 total. What do you ladies think? Should I do it? Is this a reasonable price for what we'd be getting out of it? Or are we just better of going through the resort for our photo package? A *similar* package offered by Beaches is $2000 & includes "200 digital images of ceremony, reception, & walk on the beach and/or garden"...from this girl, we'd be getting over double the amount of images plus we'd KNOW what kind of work to expect (she takes AMAZING, artistic photos). Please help me out...I want to be done stressing over this aspect!