jenniferkuhr

Great, great question.  I would say to encourage them to participate and attend, but let them know NO gifts!  This will take some of the pressure off.  If possible, encourage folks to arrange something less expensive  (i.e. a night out in a city close to everyone, as opposed to flying to Vegas).  One cute idea for a less expensive bachelorett or shower is a "panty party."  This became HUGE with my group of girlfriends.  Everyone brings a pair of cute new panties as a present and you strong them up.  The bride has to guess who each pair is from!  (guests try to pick a cute pair that is more their style or has a design of some significance to them....i.e. a teacher might find a pair with an apple print...)

This is an amazing idea, thank you for sharing something so personal and what must have been so hard for you and your family.  Ah!  The emotions!  How were you not a complete wreck on your special day?  Tears of joy, tears of sadness...its crazy!

Yes!  Have a registry.  People who can't go do want to do something to celebrate this special occasion and have you know they're thinking of you.  I spread the word at least to my closest girlfriends not to stress about a gift and if that can be one way they cut down on cost then I was ALL for it!  Some brides go crazy keeping lists and tracking down who didn't give them a gift, I think thats just nuts...at least where a destination wedding is involved.  Guests pay a ton to fly down, you pay a ton to feed and entertain them, its a good exchange.  Gifts are just an extra bonus, but not necessary. 

Love this quote, it is SO true!  I find myself saying this a lot every time someone tried to convince me to do more decorations...more flowers....its NOT necessary...Playa Del Carmen is SO gorgeous!
 

Originally Posted by merrylee 
 having a DW makes the details less annoying and more fun and I don't have to worry about decorating a whole location because it is already done for me by God and nature.

 

 

Nope, nope, nope.  Just tried the $20 dress on.  Its definitely a $20 dress.  Can't wait to TRASH IT!

Hilareous.  I did find coral and teal hat boxes at Ross for 2.99.  No idea what I'm using them for, but I snagged them anyways.  Maybe to hold the church programs?  Fans?

I actually thought the dresses I saw at David's Bridal were super cute.  You could definitely find some nice ones there.  PLUS they will be super easy to coordinate your colors with anything else you need (trust me...wish I knew this before I went with Nordstrom's...NOTHING comes in the color of the dresses I chose!)

Ha, ha!  I'm afraid of that too....could I really love a $20 dress more than my real dress???  AHHHH!

I would go with the yellow or pink, both are adorable!  Black is too depressing for the beach,.

If you want them to choose their own dress, try and go with them so you can at least help "tie" the looks all together.  I've seen photos where every bridesmaid has similar-colored dresses and it looks very pretty.  Just NO PATTERNS!  This definitely looks awful and takes the focus away from the bride.

These plates are adorable.  I found this one on etsy and decided to have a family member sew something similar:

I found wedding invitation hunting so difficult.  Here is one I fell in LOVE with by SimplYouDesign on Etsy.com, but had to pick a similar but less expensive option (same coral and teal on white, no teal pocketfold) on invitations.com:

Oops, here you go:

I can't believe you got those bags for 3.99, they look awesome!  You did an amazing job I'm sure your guests loved them!

Super cute and personalized idea.  Unfortunately, us Catholics have to stick to the script!  Oh well, one less decision to make...

This is what I'm thinking:

Argh!  My resort charged me the vendor fee AND the "non-guest" fee to feed my photographers.  JERKS!  I love Ivan Luckie and his wife though, they do an awesome job and need to be fed.  Sigh.  So we sucked it up and paid it.  Cha-ching, more $$$$ chipping away....

Your "first look" is so magical!  Love the OOT bags...where did you get them?

Go with your gut...sounds like the gut is leaning towards #1...

LOVE it!  I think this idea is adorable.  My family completely rejected it though.  sigh.

LOVE, love love this coral cake. It goes perfect with my colors and theme.  Too bad the resort said they can't do it  Boo.  

Now I just need to find the flowers for my hair.  Any suggestions?

Check out my cool OOT bags!  Only 18.99 for a pack of 10 on Amazon.com!

SUPER cute idea...I might do the same if I find the time, LOVE it!