atalanta

Yes and no. The rehearsal dinner is supposed to be primarily for the people who are involved in the rehearsal of the wedding. However, it is common practice, to invite out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner (even for weddings in your home town).

Hi Arnriv, I was going to tell you that I am using the HH DJ, but you are only 2 days after me. That is not enough time for you to change your mind. I read on wedding wire that the HH DJ was good and that most people danced the night away so we went with him and didn't look back. Did you find a photographer yet?

Thank you island bride. Your planning is going well. I'm in the midst of dress shopping now. It is a whole lot of fun. I've found some really nice gowns but I've never felt that "OMG, this is the one feeling". I think it has to do more with the fact that none of the dresses fit me just right so it is hard to imagine what they would look like so I'm just going to order my favorite through a chinese bridal shop and hope for the best. I just can't imagine spending $3600 on a dress, I'm not sure will be the one. Just my opinion, but I'd think at $3000 and upwards for the dress, the stores would stock more sizes of each dress. Good luck with the invites!

I just hit my 7 month mark. Time is really starting to fly now! How's everyone's planning going?

@Lauren, I would suggest that you get a new account. You are only at 14 posts. Everything you post here is google searchable. This would make anyone searching for your name able to see anything you post such as wedding information, pictures of decorations and your dress. Just a suggestion.

Beautiful. Please share the underwater pics, too.

@ceciliag62, I know a lot of people on BDW have gone through travel agents for pricing. We didn't. I called around to the airlines and to hotels and asked them what is the best rate they could offer our guests. Don't just check web prices, call, too! We are choosing our hotel because it is on both of our sisters' timeshares. This will make it more cost effective for our parents and siblings to attend since our sisters can request multiple rooms through the timeshare. We also are choosing this hotel because they have the lowest fee for guest passes and many of our guests live on the island or will need to stay at other hotels. Lastly, since we are having our wedding, reception, and other activities off-site, we didn't want our guests to feel like they were losing money staying at an all-inclusive and not having any of the benefits. This hotel offers European, Full breakfast, and All-inclusive plans, allowing our guests to choose what fits them best. Hope this helps.

I, too, love your second confession. What's up with people that they think that they have the right to tell you how to get married?

@Branya2012 Thank you so much. I hadn't figured out anything as yet. I just hadn't talked to her in a long while. Then she called me and asked if we were married already, which makes me think that I hadn't asked her. Why would I have gotten married and not let one of my bridesmaids know, right?

@belledame, No problem. Let us know what you learn.

@Belldame, Wow! These prices are really high! I don't think, we would have chosen HH for those prices. I'm curious though. Did you ask for a quote or did you tell them what your budget (for venue, food, ceremony, music) and ask them if they could make a package within your budget? If you requested a quote, I'm wondering what their response would be if you told them what your budget was and asked them if they had a package within that budget.

@FutureMrsLewis, Thank you so much for this list!

@MichCraw, I loved your mugs, too, and was wondering the same thing.

Camy, I looked at your facebook pics. Your wedding was absolutely gorgeous (and I'm not just saying that because we have the same color scheme). But, I do think looking at they way everything came together in your pics made me get really excited about our day. I'll PM you about specific questions. Congratulations again! And thanks for the wonderful review!

@Bride2012, I assume from Lindy's comments that the first dress is hers. @Lindy S I think your dress is beautiful! Congratulations! I love the idea of having two sashes for the wedding and reception!

@Canadiangirl, These prices are wonderful. Darn they don't have our purple!

@celticgirl, I keep going back and forth about the decorations. I really don't want to pay for premium decorations. Yet at the same time, I'd rather not lug that stuff around on our honeymoon or ask someone to take it back for us. A former BDW bride, prettypigpig, once said that she asked people if they remembered the centerpieces at the last wedding they attended and only the brides remembered. That got me thinking about all of the weddings I attended. I only remembered two centerpieces out of more than 2 dozen weddings. The only reasons I remembered those two were 1) we got to take one of them home and 2) we got to eat the other. My unscientific conclusion is that the centerpieces have to be interactive to be memorable. So I've been thinking about making our centerpieces interactive or scrapping them. I'm like you in that I think the setting is beautiful enough that we really don't need additional decor. The only problem is that we already incorporated these high floral centerpieces in our package, and I'm afraid that we won't be able to get a refund if we decide not to get it.

Hi Tabby, I did the same exact thing. I started out on the knot and then there were so many restrictions if you didn't want to pay extra so I just ended up creating a google site, which gives unlimited everything for free. I just couldn't imagine doing it again for anyone else; this was definitely a labor of love for me. Congratulations on your new business! Good luck!

Absolutely beautiful!

OK Tori. I feel better now. I hope everyone is enjoying their day off.

I just hit my 8 month mark. Our engagement announcement and save the dates went out, and this month we are trying on wedding dresses. Where is the time going?

Hi Tori, Your most recent post worries me. Maybe you should see your doctor. Are you checking your heart rate during the workouts? Atalanta

Mrs. Lewis, Again congratulations on your marriage, AND Congratulations on that dress! The transformation is absolutely amazing! You look great in that dress!

Gosh, I wish I had known about him back in December. We had decided not to do professional photographs because we couldn't afford the photographers that impressed us with their work. We decided against photographers we could afford because we thought our families and friends could do as good a job as the less expensive photographers. At $1250 for unlimited hours and pictures, he is in an entire category by himself. Talent and good prices. At $1250 for unlimited hours and pictures, we would have made our budget work to get him. His work looks amazing. Simple and beautiful.

Ooops, I meant Ginger!