marleydog

Welcome back Heather. Thrilled to hear you had a great time & cant wait to see your pics & read your review. I'll bet you're at a loss now. So glad to hear that the wedding department know their stuff. Viki & I are getting more & more excited by the week. Really cant wait to be there. Talk soon Mrs.

Excited is not the work Viki. I'm almost beside myself. I dread to think what I'll be like in 8 weeks time!!!!!

Hi nmw134 Congratulations on booking your big day. We're also having the BB package. Do you have much to do? Alex :-)

Hello All, I started my new job today so shattered tonight. They all seem really nice which is always good. Viki -Glad to hear you’ve had a good week with great weather. It’s been horrendous here. I cant wait for summer to come. Yep, just you & me to go hun. I’m the last in line. 9 weeks today for me. You have no idea how much I’m wishing time away. 7 weeks for you....so so exciting. Thanks for the email. It took me a little while to realise what it was. I thought Dania had my date wrong & was starting to panic. Lol. The smores sound fantastic. Looking forward to trying them. Weekend of 4th July for your party, what do you have planned? I just want to be in Antigua RIGHT NOW!!! So thrilled you’ve found your dress, but sorry to hear you had a bit of a nightmare getting there. I was really doubtful when people said to me, you’ll know which is the right dress & as you’ve just discovered, they’re right. Cant wait to see the pics. Are you able to find any online at all & when are you able to pick it up? Heather – I’ll bet you’re having a fantastic time out there. Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back. Sarah – Have a magical time hun. Like with Heather, looking forward to seeing the pics etc. Talk soon J

Hi Ladies, We've had quite a busy weekend. It's Bank Holiday over here & FIL's 60th Birthday, so we all had a hog roast with around 70 people there. It was fantastic though the weather left a little to be desired. We're still waiting for summer to arrive over here. I'm doubting we're going to see any sun until we actually arrive in Antigua!! I also start a new job on Wednesday so have been preparing & getting a little nervous about that. It could have been better planned really as I'll only be there for 8 weeks before having to take 2 weeks off the wedding. We spoke with the 'delightful' Dania on the phone on Friday to pay our balance. I find her so frustrating at times. I asked her about the flower ceremony but she told me I could only have a dressed rose. I'm not sure this is accurate so have decided to wait til we get to Sandals & see what's available there. I so don't trust her ablility I'm afaid. We still have all the music to sort out yet & to find Mike a white belt. They're really hard to come by over here so we may end up looking on Ebay. Sarah - Only a week to go. OMG I'm so jealous. We have a whole 9 weeks left & it feels like a lifetime. Glad you've got your OOT bags crossed off the list. Not sure if you guys have anything similar, but we have these boxes you can take on the aircraft with you as hand luggage. They're not too expenive - £46.00, not sure what that equates to in dollars though. All the major airlines accept them & they seem ideal as they're all packed up for you etc. What day do you leave & what time is your wedding ceremony planned for? Hope you're all having a good weekend. Talk soon. Quote: Originally Posted by SarahTD Well, I packed up all of my OOT bag stuff last night and gave it to my mother to bring so that is one really big thing crossed off my list. Yay! This weekend is going to be spent packing us both up and trying to figure out how I am going to take my dress with me. Getting very excited! How is everyone else?

Hi, Like you I've never been a fan of diets but I've never heard of the 17 day diet. What does it involve. I have nine weeks to go & could do with losing 6lbs. Any ideas?

Have a truly fantastic time. Looking forward to seeing the pics & reading all about it when you get back.

Heather, wishing you a fantastic time. (I'm so jealous lol) Cant wait to see your pics & hear all about it. Talk to you soon Mrs!!!!

Hi ladies, What a busy day it’s been. I feel like I haven’t stopped!! Viki – Ah I’ll bet he looked fantastic. They do grow up so quickly. I think I’ll also send Dania a copy of our documentation just to be on the safe side. Could you imagine if you turned up there to find they didn’t have it & they wouldn’t marry you. What a nightmare that would be. If Dania will ever return my email, I’ll ask her for the fax no. S’mores sound fantastic. We don’t have anything like that over here – but I’ll be keeping an eye out in case I can have any in Antigua. I definitely like the sound of those. Unfortunately my friend has had to cancel our day out in London. I’m gutted as was really looking forward to it, but it’ just one of those things & can’t be helped. I still have my other Hen Night to look forward to. Your day sounds brilliant. You’ll have so much fun I hope you’ll be posting pictures. When do you have that planned for? LOVING your dress. Its absolutely stunning. Be sure to let us know how you got on at the weekend & if it’s ‘the one’. We decided to go with the romantic dinner on our last night because we thought it would be a lovely way to end the holiday / honeymoon. It sounds like you’re having the same communication problems with Ebony that we are with Dania. Sweetness – 4 days to go....WOOP WOOP!! So excited for you. I cant wait to hear all about it see your pics. I doubt that you’ll be on here until afterwards now, but GOOD LUCK – not that you’ll need it. Have a truly fantastic day. All that planning & its now here. ENJOY!! Sarah – 13 days to go. How you doing? Mixture of nerves & excitement I shouldn’t wonder. Are you all ready or do you still have any last minute things to do? It sounds like you’ll have a brilliant time & how great is it that your friend of 20 years is coming. What a marvellous way to catch up. Talk to you all soon.

Love this pic. Your face says it all. Not long now!!!!!!

Hi Kym, Congratulations to your brother. I'm sure you'll have a great time in Antigua. Are you staying at Sandals? If so yes, guests can have their hair done either in the spa or in the same room as the bride. Does your brother have a wedding planner, probably either Dania or Ebony. She will be able to advise pricing. if not, let me know & I'll check through my paperwork for pricing for you. Let me know if you need anything else & I'll try my best to help. When in June will you be there?

Hi Sarah, It looks like you had a great time. Thanks for posting pics. Definitely a good idea to avoid the beach. I'll look forward to reading what you find out. I'm sure you ladies aren't affected, but UK is struggling with this ash cloud again & flights are being cancelled. It's a real worry for the ladies flying out of here to various destinations. Talk soon.

Hi Ladies, Not much happening over this end. All pretty quiet to be fair. I finished some DIY stuff : Ribbons around the raffia fans, bookmarks, keycard holders, welcome book, pashmina tags, first aid kit stickers & bagging up the O $h1t kits. Does anyone know if you receive confirmation from Sandals after sending them your documentation. Because we booked via a travel agent ,we gave them copies of our documents, birth certs & my divorce absolute but we haven’t heard anything back. I think maybe I should chase this & check all’s ok. Sweetness - I like the idea of the bonfire. I’m going to email Dania this evening to try & get some details from her. What are smores?? It’s not a word I’ve heard of over here. I think there will be a fantastic atmosphere. I had a look at your dress online & it looks amazing. I love the diamante detail & the mermaid ruffles. You will look fabulous. Not long now. I’m so excited for you. Sarah – How did your shower go.....would love to see some pics. Orchids don’t sound too bad, I’ll ask Dania about this tonight & see if she can send me some pictures. 4pm. Is the same time as ours. I’ll be interested to find out what the weather was like at that time of day. Have you chosen your location or are you waiting ‘til you get out there? Talk soon.

Hi Viki, Ah that's a shame that we'll miss you. I hadn't heard about the carnival so will have to have a look on the internet & see what I can find out. Sounds like it could definitey be worth a visit. Thanks for the heads up.

Evening Ladies, I hope you're all well. You know I was talking about my Hen Night, well I saw one of my close friends last night & she was arranged for just the 2 of us to go to London for the weekend & have a bit of a pamper..... & several drinks. I'm really looking forward to it. I had wanted her to be my MOH but because we booked our wedding in early January, she had already booked her summer holiday. We're both gutted & joked about having a link so she could watch it at home. That said, these things happen but it makes the 2 of us going to London so special. I'm really excited & if I'm honest, I'm more excited about this than my big hen night. Viki I’m also on my second marriage, but it’s only Mike’s first. That was another reason for opting for DW. That said, I know what you mean about inviting more people. I worry about creating the ‘right’ atmosphere for 4 guests. Mike & I don’t really mind about anything other than the ceremony but I so much want everyone else to come away saying they’d had a great time. I’m not sure if I mentioned that I ordered the parasols from Ebay but when they came they were way too small but one of the other brides on here who got married in Antigua said you can buy them once you’re there so will probably go with that option. Glad to hear that you sorted the tux out. A lighter colour sounds ideal. It sounds like you had a nightmare with your plane tickets. I think I would have been in a right state. Thankfully you got it sorted eventually. We arranged everything through our travel agent & have been told not to expect the tickets until about 10 days prior to flying. Hopefully we wont have any problems. I cant believe they expected you to fly from Antigua to Europe then to US. That is crazy!!! Re your flowers. I’m also not struck with the magenta bouquet. I’m in contact with a bride from here who got married in Antigua in April (Vickytoria) & she was saying you can upgrade your bouquet. I know that the Sandals wedding brochure has prices for different bouquets. I spoke with Dania about this a while ago & she advised that you can upgrade when you arrive. I’m going to do this. It’s hard to tell from a picture. I want more of a proper bouquet as opposed to the couple of twigs that the magenta bouquet looks like. Mike & I have booked the romantic beach dinner for our last night. Vickytoria also had this & highly recommended it. Hopefully it’ll be great as it is such a lot of money. Sarah The locket is such a lovely thing to do & like Viki, I also teared up when I read about you putting a picture of your Dad in there so he could be with you both. I think she will be so moved by it. There will definitely be lots of happy tears. Having spoken to other Antiguan brides I believe the wedding planner walks with you to the aisle so maybe she could have the bouquet & swap it for the parasol when I get to the ‘aisle’ bit. When you arranged the flower ceremony did you get an option as to which flowers you wanted. Was there any pictures? It’s something I really but to do but I’m really reticent to book things via Dania. I just don’t have faith in her ability. I believe that most things can be booked once you get out there which is what I’m thinking about doing. It is a gamble though so I did make sure that I booked hair appointments & our candlelit dinner with her as I didn’t want to turn up & find they were fully booked or couldn’t accommodate my date / time requests. OMG you don’t have long at all. You must be a mixture of nervous anxiety & excitement. What time is your wedding? I’ll have a drink for you. Take care & talk soon ladies.

Thanks for the quick response Sarah. Sandals do know how to milk us for money dont they?! $100 is quite a lot but I think is worth it. Like you say, it makes them feel like part of the wedding. FIL is walking me down, BIL is Mike's best man & MIL & SIL dont have any real active role so I think it's something I will go for. Have you arranged this through the 'delightful' Dania? I think your MIL will absolutely love the fact that you've taken the time to both think about & include her. There are definitely lots of secrets to keep. Like you, we have OOT bags, we've booked them each a romantic candlelit beach dinner & arranged for them to have champagne delivered when they return home. It's such a struggle not to let anything slip. I'm sure you will most definitely be the star of the day. Quote: Originally Posted by SarahTD Thanks! The flower ceremony would be great for your MIL and SIL, I'm sure. I think it takes place at the end of the wedding ceremony. It cost $100, so $50 per flower, which is ridiculous. I really wanted to do it, though, so my MIL would feel part of the ceremony. My mom is giving me away, my best friend is MOH and his dad is the best man. My MIL is feeling a little left out. She doesn't know about the flower ceremony so I think it will be a nice surprise for her. All these secrets! It's like throwing a wedding surprise party . I was a theatre major so I tend to lean toward the dramatic. My best friend laughs at me because I keep calling the wedding guests "audience" and I'm keeping the music a secret for impact. Oh well, at least it's a day where people will actually let me be the star LOL. I probably won't get away with it after that try as I might.

Hi Sarah, so it's quite a trek for you too. So so worth it though. Your flower ceremony sounds wonderful. Do you think it's something I could do for my MIL & SIL? As you know we only have 4 guests going. Would you mind me asking how much the flower ceremony costs & what it entails? Is it a part of the actual wedding ceremony. It's not something we do over here but I love the idea. We're having the 30 minute hors d'ouerves (cocktail ceremony) then the 2 hour evening reception with private meal. We were also going to go with the steel drums, then we thought about the saxophonist but have now decided to just have Ipod. Your days sounds like it's going to be absolutely fabulous.

Hi Viki, What date do you leave? We arrive 1st August. Will you still be around?

Hi Sarah, FIL is one of the most wonderful men I have ever met. In fact MIL is great too. I'm so lucky that we get on so well. Especially as Mike is 9 years younger than me. (he's 30). I think they know they dont have to worry about him as much now. All his previous girlfriends were in their late teens so his parents had not much in common whereas we seem to get along so well. He was really pleased I asked him. I love the fact that your mum is walking you down. She will be so proud. Nice touch to ask stepdad to give first toast too. Dania.....well she drives me insane if I'm honest. Our first call with her, she didn't dial in & trying to get any information out of her is a nightmare. All she ever tried to to was upsell us stuff. In the end I pointed out that if we wanted any extras we would arrange it once we got to the resort. Now I dont hear from her unless I make contact. She normally has a 2 day turnaround time on emails. I heard from her yesterday so I know she's around. Also, she doesn't work Mondays. (Not sure if you knew that) Not long now. 19 days isn't it? I would be beyond myself with excitement. Are you all done or is there still stuff left to do? How long is your flight over to Antigua? Ours is a whopping 8.5 hours. (Which wedding package did you go for? We've gone with Beautiful Beginnings) Talk soon.

Hi Melody, The few photo you have look samazing with the parasol & I'd love to have them. We only have 4 guests, MIL, FIL, sister & brother in law. I thought all us ladies could have them. FIL is going to walk me down the 'aisle'. In my head, I envisage walking to the gazebo with the parasol, then when I get there swapping it for the bouquet. My concern is who would I hand the parasol to? I dont think FIL would look right with it. Is the wedding coordinator with you, maybe I could pass it to her?? Would love to see more pics of your big day. Talk soon. Quote: Originally Posted by melodygayle Hi Alex! I was not planning on having the parasol, but when I saw it in the wedding office, I had to have it. My on-site coordinator added it to my room charges. It was $20. I had my MOH carry it for the wedding and I also used it for a few of my pictures. It's so adorable. I think they had orange and yellow that you could purchase. So many fun things to think about!

Evening all, Well my news is that I ordered some really cute Japanese parasols from Ebay. I’d seen some photos of brides & their guests holding them & thought they looked really cute. Anyway, when they came I was soooo disappointed. They were way too small. They would be ideal for a child but not for an adult. Anyway, I’m not sure whether to find some others or just leave the idea. What do you girls think? One hand I think they’d be really cool props, but on the other I think maybe it’s a bit much. Just cant make my mind up. Heather it sounds like you’ve had a good day with your future sister in law’s graduation. Hope you all had a great day. Unpacking & repacking, it made me laugh. That’s something I’m very likely to do. Fair call about not wanting to carry the bags down to the beach. Your guests are going to love them. I love the idea of a welcome bonfire. I didn’t know that option was available. Is it a private thing just for your party or something the whole resort has access to? Melody Thanks for the heads up about boutique. Sounds like its definitely worth a look. Sarah Loving the idea of the thank you banner while in wedding clothes for thank you cards. I’ve never heard of that before. Re my hen night. You’re right. I need to stop worrying about everyone else & chill out a bit. Hope you all have a great evening. Talk soon. Alex

Hi ladies, Well the Hen Night’s now booked. There are 13 of us in total so should be a good night. Its booked for 24 June so still a little while to wait. Do you think I should buy my guests presents? I’m not too sure. Sarah – it’s a real struggle keeping quiet about the OOT bags isn’t it? I think I’ll crumble too when I’ve had a drink or two. Probably on my hen night. I think that’ll be great to hand them out in the lobby. Our guests are travelling with us so I’ll probably stick with handing them out at the welcome meal. I know what you mean about it feeling unreal. People are saying, you must be getting excited, and I am but it still feels too far away to be actually happening. I want it NOW!!!! I cant believe its only 3 weeks for you. 2 weeks tomorrow til you fly....woop woop! I cant wait to hear your review & see your pics. Sweetness - I can only imagine how excited you must be feeling. All that planning is now about to become a reality. looking forward to hearing all about it. MelodyGayle - I’ll bet you were thrilled to see your video. All those fantastic memories. I agree, so many people will be so jealous. The photos sound like a nightmare. They really have got us over a barrel here haven’t they? Good idea about making a specific list of what & who you want photos of along with having a meeting with the photographer. It’s something I’ll certainly be pushing for. Photos are such a big thing, I want to be sure that they’re as good as possible. Viki – Hope you had a good weekend too. Mine’s been a bit quiet as FI has flown over the USA for the week with work, so it’s just me & the dog. Fantastic news that you’ve got your plane tickets. Exciting stuff. Talk to you all soon.

Hi ladies, How's everyone getting on? Sweetness OMG you get married next week. How you holding up, have you got everything in place? I'll bet you're soooo excited. Sarah - 3 weeks today for you. I feel like I've got ages to wait yet. Hope all's good with everyone. Talk soon. xx

Definitely. when are you planning on giving yours out? We were thinking about doing it at the welcome dinner. Because our party is so small, I'm finding it really hard not to say anything about them to our guests. I want to give them out now!! No patience.... hahah

Thanks Sarah. I've also decided to add personalised shot glasses to the OOT bags. Last minute thing today. I've got to stop having these last minute ideas. They're costing me a fortune. Glad that you're not getting any more grief about your desintation wedding.