schmizer

Welcome Farlem311! How's your planning coming?

All of my progress was basically in depth research until this last week! I feel so accomplished! We... Put deposits on our wedding bands (both custom). Booked my hair stylist. Booked my makeup artist. Got a really complete estimate from the resort (where the ceremony is) for all expenses of the ceremony. This meant I made a ton of decisions regarding flowers. Asked my girls to be in my wedding party. Booked the photographer and decided on package. Booked the officiant. Tried suits on FI and found the PERFECT one! Decided on style of attire for groomsmen. Our next big steps are the wedding website, save the dates and dress shopping. I have a question for all of you Chicago brides... Does Chicago have any great flea markets? I am looking for old glass bottles and have had no luck around Milwaukee.

I was going to do embroidered tags with the guest's names, but then thought that I would look for keychains that remind me of each person to attach to the handle. For example, I have an uncle that I call monkey that I will find a monkey keychain for.

Glad to hear you are doing ok! Hope you have a speedy recovery!

No. I am doing all the work myself. I spoke to a couple of travel agents, but all of my guests are flying in from different places...

Yeah! Another Milwaukee bride! Welcome Merrylee!

We are using Kaanapali Romance Florist. They came highly recommended and so far have been a dream to work with! http://www.kaanapaliromance.com/

All would be alot of fun! I think it depends on your guest's interests. For example, I originally was going to book a snorkel sail for everyone, but found out alot of my guests get sea-sickness. Therefore, we are still doing the activity, but it is going to be optional and not hosted. For our welcome party, we are going to do a beach day with surfing lessons instead, I think. As part of our OOT bags, we are including gift certificates for snorkel equiptment and boogie board rentals. We will do apps, cocktails and be more low key... This seemed like the best option for everyone, since we could be together, but everyone could do their own thing.

We are using Mike Sydney and love his portfolio. We have him booked for 3 hours, just for the ceremony, prep pictures and after pictures. A number of our guests, including my FI, are professional photographers, so we are not using a Maui photographer for the reception. We are purchasing all the negatives for the photos taken instead of having prints done by the photographer. You are right, all the good photographers are expensive. http://www.mspmaui.com/

I just took care of this yesterday. I met up individually with each of my girls and gave them a bag with a card (made and personalized on Etsy), a luggage tag and airplane shaped Swiss chocolates. Total surprise for all since they all thought I wasn't having a wedding party.

I am finally ready to do the asking! Here are my "Will you be my bridesmaid/maid of honor?" invites made for me on Etsy. I am also giving the girls each a personalized (initial) luggage tag and a box of the most AMAZING Swiss chocolates from Teuscher. The chocolates are molded to look like airplanes and the boxes are in one of our wedding colors. I love the way the box says "Teush-Air:) They do incredible molded chocolates in every shape possible. Here is the site! http://www.teuscher.com/

Good luck with the surgery! I'm sure you're rocking that brace!

That's hilarious!

Drive: Cattle

Like! Especially the kind with fruit in it. Peewee Herman?

Totally agree. Some of those reviews are incredibly bogus! It helps to look at the post history for anything that seems unreal. You can usually tell (just like here) who's being honest and who's not!

Party: Chinese New Year!

Thanks for the information:) I have read the other threads as well. Most of them date back a few years and that is why I started a new post. I guess what I am curious about is how the ease of technology is changing the traditions in weddings. A few years ago, honeymoon registries were much more faux pas than they are now. They are much more common. I think it is interesting how alot of us are having very untraditional weddings but still are incorporating alot of traditional aspects... We are also going with Honeyfund, but the upgraded version.

Welcome Donie and Paula! Have either of you ladies subscribed to the Trip Advisor forums of your place of marraige? I have found the people to be incredibly insightful about when to book and when rates are going to drop. Most of the people that post are frequent travelers or live in the vicinity of that forum, so they are extremely knowledgeable. I am following the threads to get an idea of what rates will be like next year when our guests book. Also, I have gotten fabulous insight into activities, car rentals, restaurants, etc. Look forward to hearing about your progress!

Where are you getting your bags from? We just finished playing around with our honeymoon registry after an all-out brawl with my parents about registering at all. My Mom is really passive about most things! I am shocked she got all up in arms about us having a no gift policy! Anyway, let me know what you think... She and I compromised on the wording on our website, directing guests here... It says: This registry has been the toughest part of our wedding planning. First and foremost, because we are laden with your love and support and don't need much more. And also because we feel so grateful that so many of you are coming all the way to Maui to be with us on our special day. We honestly considered trying to have a "no gifts" policy, but after speaking to some of our family and friends, realized that wasn't realistic. Let it be clear that your presence and/or support is the best gift that we could receive and that no more is expected. As two "thirty-somethings" that have combined two households of "stuff", we currently have one (or in some cases, two) of everything we could possibly need to furbish a home. We are both repetitively told how difficult we are to buy gifts for due to our love--OK, LIZA'S love--of impulse buying:) Therefore, what we would really love an opportunity for is adventure and amazing memories. In lieu of tangible goods, we suggest donating to our honeyfund. We have put together the most amazing honeymoon on Kauai and Oahu complete with some incredible adventures that we are planning to celebrate our new life together. If you would like to treat us to something that we have planned, it would be greatly appreciated! And here is the registry site... http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/lizaandhoward The thing I struggled with the most was trying to guests to understand that we weren't looking for them to provide us with a free honeymoon. We are planning on doing all of these activities regardless of "help" from our friends and family. It is all budgeted... Not sure how to get that across! PS! I FINALLY posted a pic, just for you Illinois girls. Hee hee! Bet you can't guess where it was taken:)

For those of you that are registering: How many of you are choosing a honeymoon registry in lieu of a traditional one? What site are you using? How many of you are choosing to have a traditional registry? Both? My parents and I had a talk a few nights ago about our plan to ask for no gifts. They are insisting we register somewhere to convenience our extended family and their friends. We are only making reference to it on our website since this was not originally our plan. We have decided to go with a honeymoon registry instead of the traditional one and I played around with one today. Just curious what everyone else is doing...

Anyone watch this tonight? I made my FI sit through it with me. He has now retreated into his man cave for the rest of the evening:)

I can see your point, but for me, the extra work is worth it. My closest friends and family are flying thousands of miles, using their vacation time and spending thousands of dollars to spend our special day with us. I want them to know how much they mean to us, and the OOT bags are just one of the ways I plan to show them that they are appreciated. The couple of hours time, money spent and the inconvenience of getting the stuff there is the least I can do. Also, realize that I have always gotten super excited about surprising others with gifts. Our OOT bags will have some of the goodies that I have seen in other bags, but will also include items that I know our guests won't bring and things that are personalized for them that will make their day. My two cents:)

@Beachbridein11: Welcome, Beach Bride! I say, let your mom run with it:) I think getting into the island mantra ("No worries") is the way to go! Have you had a chance to look up all the fun Jamaican proverbs yet? Some of them are hilarious! What a fun and beautiful place to get married... @bigredchibride Jen, Congrats on your engagement! Tell us a little more about your wedding and post a pic of your invites. I am brainstorming on STD's, invites and OOT bags right now... @Queendiva OK! Your are obviously so much more crafty than I am! I like to pretend that I am accomplished at DIY, but honestly have my doubts that most of my projects are going to turn out the way I want. Post pics! I love looking at other people's handywork.

Happy New Year! I just finished watching the badgers lose the Rose Bowl...Ugh! I wish our wedding was that close! It's crunch time for you:) How much do you have left to do?