Ellabaja1983

First of all, thank you everyone!! It was definitely unexpected, but it's also a great thing!! So many MORE changes and then things to plan...again!! I can't imagine all of this. I know you also posted that you had a long talk and you are feeling better, so that is great!! Why did these people not rsvp to you?? Quote: Originally Posted by Meggers7484 Laura and Mocha I hear you on the AHR! There are more people coming to it than came to the wedding and I've probably put about 2% of the effort into it! It's in a week and a half and I still have a ton to do! I am the exact same way!! Luckily our AHR is about a month and a half away, but we have so much going on between then and now, so I really need to find some ambition....which has not been easy over the last week since I've started to develop the morning sickness piece of this journey!!

Hey ladies! It's been awhile since I've been around... things have been so crazy here with my one stepson who is big into basketball and we seem to be finding ourselves in a different state every weekend (this weekend it's Maine). I haven't had a chance to look at many pictures, because I'm at work right now, but I will be able to do that hopefully in the next couple of days... Last night I got the Photo Book I ordered from Photobin, and it is absolutely amazing!! I had gotten a deal (1/2 off) through mamapedia, and when I put the code in, it gave it to me for free! I just had to pay $5.75 for shipping! It took about a week to get here. I also got my order from snapfish...over 200 pictures from friends that were at the wedding!! Now... I've got some big news... it's early and we are not telling many people yet, just because of how early it is, but I got the confirmation yesterday during my doctors appointment... I'm 5 weeks and 6 days pregnant!!! I totally didn't expect it to be so soon (like one of the first few days we were in Mexico)... but it all worked out at the earliest possible time I guess! So, needless to say, we are in store for some very big changes in the pretty near future!! I haven't completely gotten out of the "this is pretty freeky" attitude yet... but I'm almost to the really excited stage! Assuming everything goes well, our AHR falls right at the end of our 1st trimester, and I think we may make the announcement then!

We didn't even go to the disco when we were there... I was wondering where it was, but it wasn't something anyone was interested in... Steph, where was it??

I just ordered my photobook today! I ended up purchasing something through mamapedia (like livingsocial or Groupon) for two 1/2 priced books. I was going to do one for my parents and one for DH's parents, but he said not to bother with them. So, I ordered mine today. When I went through the whole thing and put my discount code in, it ended up giving me the book for free, I just had to pay for shipping! I was so excited!!! Once it's printed, I should get it in 2-5 days!! I also ordered over 230 pictures through snapfish on Saturday. I've only had 4 or 5 couples post their pictures there (through the photoshare card), but I was able to get them through there for about $10, including shipping! I had the 50% off code, and that was really nice! Saturday I also went to Good Will to donate a big garbage back of clothes and picked up dishes for our candy buffet at the AHR in July! Now the only thing I have left to get for that is the LOVE dishes, which I think I'm going to just get from Greysgirl!! Our invites will be going out this week... I have to get the image of our invite scanned to share, I haven't had a chance to do that! It's been such a productive long weekend!!

After our dinner was over, a bunch of us stayed at the bar right next to where we had the reception/dinner. A lot of guests actually went back to their room after... It was about 11:30 and it had been a long day in the sun. They do also have their "POP," People of Palladium, where they do different shows during the night... but that's a sit down and watch thing.. I don't know what else to tell you...

Not sure on the fires... I can't say I saw them anywhere, but that doesn't need anything... For the bridal party, I made them special bags for the OOT bags. I also got each of them special earrings and then paid for 1/2 of their hair/make-up at the spa.... Congrats on getting your day!! It's a wonderful thing when things work out!!!

I wanted to share, that I'm super excited because I went and picked up our AHR invitations and CDs of all of our pictures from the DW!! I will work on getting some stuff uploaded later today or over the long weekend!! Regarding the table numbers... I really would like to assign seats because we are inviting about 130 people... but I know DH doesn't want to do it that way. He doesn't see the need for it...

Manda, look at everything...to include how much you would be going over budget. Depending on that factor, maybe it's worth it? If its a crazy amount over budget, then you have to decide what is right for you. Like I said, look at all party... flowers, favors, decorations... see if there is something else you can live without if you really want to hire a DJ... Steph, I'm glad we could share our opinions and not offend either one of us!!

See, and for you Steph, you had different requirements/expectations I think then I had (no offense to you), it's one of those things where it all depends on what is important to you. I didn't mind doing the play lists or get the music there. I didn't need anything extra (lighting, dry fireworks), because it just didn't matter to me. We did have a smaller group than you did, and maybe that's another piece of my decision. It's just a matter of what you want and what you are willing to pay for. Also, you orignally weren't doing the AHR... that's where we planned on doing most of our dancing and that's where we care more, so even though we may not even be getting a DJ for the AHR, my focus for music has always been there instead of our reception. I'm so glad to hear about your pictures Steph!!!! So exciting! I'm sure they'll be worth the wait!!

We didn't have anyone picked out for the MC. It actually wasn't something I had ever heard of until seeing it on here, which I'm thankful for because with Erika asked who our MC was, DH didn't know what she was talking about. We ended up having the bestman do it, and then he actually rolled right into his toast! I couldn't imagine paying for a DJ, especially $1k's... (no offense to anyone that has) but I could see doing it when they have the whole setup right there and you can do individual playlists on the iPod and then put it on shuffle. We had three different playlists. We had the ceremony, dinner, and dance...and just put them on shuffle. If there was a song that no one was really feeling during the dancing part we either used it as our break, or I went up and pushed it to the next song.

I know Steph said that she thinks you'd be okay, but I don't think it'd be that great of a setup if you did it at the garden gazebo. The beach gazebo would be setup much better for the amount of people you have going. Also like Steph said, you do have the option of any location because they do one wedding at a time. Steph, I hope you get them soon! If it says 6-8 weeks, and it's only week 7, there isn't anything you can do...but wait. Claudia is in such demand that she is always busy, so it's just a waiting game...as hard as that is... =( For those who haven't booked a DJ yet, if you or your FI are tech-savvy, doing it with an iPod is a great option... I'm not that tech savvy, and I did it all by myself for our 4 hour reception... Because it turned out so well, we are doing the same thing for our AHR, just to cut costs (and allow more money to be spent on other things)!!

How often does he come to your house? I noticed you said that your FI is GOING to see him this weekend... Is it not an option for him to come to you and your FI?

Steph, I would feel the same way!! I would probably still harass her if it was me!! You should have them by now!!!! Maybe the more you harass her the quicker she'll get them to you because she'll get sick of you!!! Haha! I couldn't imagine being you right now, it's been SO long since your wedding...well...long enough for the photos to come back!!

That's awesome Steph!! Must be such a relief!! (I haven't forgotten to respond to your other message, I just haven't had the time to respond, I know it's going to be a lot!)

We did the top one (can't remember the name), for the renewal of the vows. We had decided to get married in the States ahead of time, because the States wouldn't recognize the marriage down there, unless we did a bunch of paperwork through the State Dept. It was much cheaper and easier for us, because we didn't have to go the four business days ahead of schedule (which was good because we would have had to leave on Easter) and we didn't have to have any guests (witnesses) go the four days ahead either. Also, because our package was the top one for the renewal of the vows our dress and suit steaming was included! The only extra flowers we got were for the BM, GM, and my father. We made the bouquets for the BMaids and brought them... We were able to take the flowers from the ceremony to the reception and then also gave us rose petals on the tables and battery operated candles for the tables. We didn't bring any extra decorations (outside of the name cards), and honestly, we didn't need them. We only sat at the tables for dinner and then we were between the dance floor and the bar!! They also turned the red carpet (for the ceremony) into rose petals (to match our colors), and then added purple and orange lilies to the cake, free of charge.

Greys - I love the candy buffet, it gives me inspiration to get started on buying the containers and stuff... I think my biggest worry though is the amount. How many people did you have and how much candy?? I also love the cake!! I've only gotten gifts from the bridal shower, and I sent those thank you cards within three weeks of the shower... actually, now that I think about it, we have received two gifts since the wedding. I need to send thank you cards for those! For the people who traveled with us to Mexico, I'm going to send them thank you photos! We did a big group photo when we were down there so I'm going to get those printed and put them on some card stock and write little thank you notes on the back and mail them! Congrats to all my fellow ladies TTC!!

Tisha, your pictures are beautiful!! Being patient was hard for me, and I only had to wait a day from when I returned home...

Breathenagain - That definitely is a different story when it comes to step-children... We all certainly have our stories, don't we?? Personally, I wonder if marrying a widower is easier than a divorcee. I know that may sound harsh, but hear me out... With a widower, you don't have the ex there in the picture. Granted, you do have the widowed-inlaws (totally made that up) assuming they want to be in the picture, but you don't have that ex there complaining all the time, or making your life miserable, as some ex's do. I know the other side of that is you still want the children (or child) to know about their mother and you have to go about that, which I can imagine would be hard at times... but I guess the grass is always greener....isn't it. There are definitely disadvantages on both sides... it's just a matter of how much you want to deal with... Your story is harder though, because you have an ex AND widow-inlaws... so you have both scenario's in one... I do not envy you at all! I at least hope that the widow-inlaws aren't too bad around you... Kelly - I've actually been searching for something like that too.... I have been unsuccessful though. If anyone has suggestions, let us know!!

Haha, I love this!! We would actually either have to really re-arrange the house as it sits now, or build an addition....

When I secured my date, I received a packet from the wedding coordinator I was working with (she's no longer there). Within the packet there was a deposit sheet that I had emailed in with my debit card number... so, I don't know what you would send in, if you don't have that already....

See I was freaked out about the baby talk for awhile (before we got married obviously), but hubs is 44... we already have two kids (teenagers actually) living in the house, so really, why not?! I'll be 28 in a few months, so...I don't want to wait. If I was 25 or even 26, I'd be waiting a couple of years too... The other things for me that would be a big factor is that I'm set in my career. I know that I have a position that pretty much isn't going anywhere (meaning lay offs or anything), so, I don't have that worry either.

I just wanted to share... I just got the proof for our AHR invitations that I will share, but you'll have to PM message me because it's on the same site as our complete wedding album, and I don't want to just post the link here...

Tisha, DH's kids are going to be pretty far apart too. With DH being 16 years older than me, he has a 15 y.o and a 12 y.o.... I'm so glad he's a very active man, because I know he'll be active as long as he's able to! I wasn't keen on the idea of possibly being pregnant for the AHR, but I'm now feeling like... ehh, if it happens, it happens. I have one neice and nephew (twins) that are about 2 1/2.. then my bff had a child last July, and plans to start trying again this fall. She really wants us to be preggers together, which would be cool, but again, we'll see what happens! DH's nieces and nephew are much older, as he is the second youngest in his family, but much older than me... Though, one of his brothers has a little boy who will be 3 in November.... He just doesn't talk to that brother, so we never see his nephew.

Well, I came off BC towards the beginning of the year because of some concerns I was having due to it. At that point I told DH that if we were going to try to NOT conceive, we needed to do something different, and he just continued on... Then Sunday morning we were talking and I told him how I had woken up with a headache and he instantly was like, are you hung over? Did you have too much to drink last night? (Because I had gone over for a BBQ with some friends, which led to beer pong and a few other games.) I told him no, because I had a couple of drinks right at the beginning, so I could drive home. He followed that up with, "Well you know, if you are no longer on BC, you should probably no longer drink... you never know, you could have a baby growing!" So I was like... okay, we are now in THAT mode. DH and I talked during the DW about a tattoo he has with my stepson's name on it. He mentioned that he wanted to get a few other tattoos, but he would be sure to leave room near the other tattoo to add another name, "if that was okay with me." I know we want to do it sooner rather than later, so I'm just going to see what happens at this point! I love the conversation with your hubby, "if he wants to meet next years deadline!" That's fantastic! It's also very exciting to move into that phase of life... scary, but exciting!

Queen, welcome back!! Everything looked amazing!! I bet you are tired, but I also bet it was totally worth it!! Mocha, your pictures are absolutely beautiful!!! Love how the pink crinoline turned out! Absolutely beautify!! Alright, so we've done a few things for our AHR, which is July 30th... We've booked and paid for the location, I just put the order in for our invitations last night, but have spread the word to all of our OOT guests already so they can take care of that part. I've started to buy things to use for the centerpieces and other decorations at one of Yankee Candles' Outlet stores..which I'll be stopping at again this coming weekend (we have decided to do a luau/beach theme). Other than that, we haven't done anything. We are doing a picture frame card box, so DH has to put that together, and then I just have a few other things I want to do with our pictures. I also plan on doing the candy buffet and we're still trying to decided on if we want to do cupcakes or pies. We may end up doing a smaller cake and then a bunch of different pies... I do not eat pies at all, but DH eats those rather than cake. (Can I also just mention that I started poking around on the bump yesterday...yea, I totally did!)