BusyBee123

I'm in the process of going over my budget and accounting for tipping, etc. I was just curious as to what past brides have given the wedding coordinators? I want to be fair and tip them for their services, and was originally going to give them $100 each. Now, after hearing so many bad things about Donnalee, I don't know that she deserves $100 tip. And I'm not sure about Chandyln either, as all of my communication has been via Donnalee. I recognize that they have been doing behind the scenes organization for several months and that they'll be doing all of the decor and whatnot on the big day so I want to recognize them, but I don't want to go overboard. Has anyone else thought to give them a gift instead? If you tipped them, how much did you give them? ACW - I'm so glad that you're having an amazing time!!! It makes me SO excited to go...counting down the days! Can't wait to hear more when you get home!

Ohhh...I didn't even think about that as a possibility! lol! I was reading that someone else had ordered $110 worth of the bulk bags, but that shipping was over $60! Then when UPS delivered they charged additional fees of almost $50 so the shipping alone came to the same price and the M&Ms themselves. I just dont' want to get burnt with UPS again! I hate all the additional fees! Might have to get them shipped to a friend in the US. Just trying to decide whether to order bulk and repackage vs ordered the prepackaged.

I love the personalized M&Ms but had been warned that shipping to Canada was super expensive. Do you mind sharing how much you got and what your shipping came to? As much as I really don't need any more stuff, they would be such a cute addition!

ACW: Hope you have a great trip and a beautiful wedding! After all that you've been through, you deserve no less! I can't wait to hear all about your big day when you get back! Enjoy every minute of it! I've been to Dunn's River Falls myself twice and am taking all of my guests there on a cruise to snorkel and climb the falls. I guess its all a matter of personal preference! Its a Jamaican landmark that I didn't want my guests to miss!

That's too bad that the weather didn't cooperate! I hate having to rely on the weather! Hopefully now that you've had one mishap with weather your wedding day will be beautiful! At least you have tons of time left! Winter ones would be really pretty...and a nice contrast from the beach wedding photos! Will keep you posted!

I have a local photographer coming with us for the week of Jan 7th-14th, but I know they're already booked up the week before. I've heard fabulous things from a lot of brides about Merrick Cousley. He might be worth a shot! Good luck!

Hey Peach....Just wondering how the weekend photo shoot went? Did the weather cooperate? Still waiting on our engagement photos...will likely take a few weeks! SO excited to see them!!

Thanks so much for the suggestions MJKH! I've been going back and forth and changing my mind each day! I had completely forgotten the cake boxes that we'll be giving our guests at dinner as well, seeing as we're having a separate dessert with dinner! More to carry! I think we may have to go the collapsable bag route! Goodness...I need to stop shopping! Thanks again!

I don't know how I managed to miss this thread for so long! Must remember to scroll down to the chit chat part! lol! We're less than 3 months away from our wedding, and have been tossing back and forth the idea of favours. We already have OOT bags to hand out at our welcome dinner (they're super full...I went a little overboard I think!). We're also having bubbles, fans and programs on our seats at the ceremony. As we're getting married in Jamaica, I had originally made Jamaican Spice favours in cute little containers, but was questioning whether I should just put those in the OOT bags as well because a) they don't REALLY fit with the decor and then our guests will have to carry them back to the gazebo for our reception/dance! What do you think? At each place setting we'll already have a menu and a seashell place card holder. We're also handing out sky lanterns and personalized matches at the dinner for the reception as well. I just don't want to see my guests hauling around too much stuff the night of, or not having room for all of this stuff in their suitcases! Any thoughts? Happy planning ladies!

Thanks so much for posting this Ashley! I was tempted to ask Chandlyn, but didn't want her to say no! So I was going along with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy as I've already ordered them! But now I know we won't get in trouble! I got mine from theskylantern.com as well and they're airline safe for sure! Plus they were super cheap and arrived very quickly...even to Canada!

I'd love to hear if anyone was able to find decent quality personalized towels in the $10-20 range. I was hoping to get them for all of my guests, but the OOT bags are so full already that I really don't want to spend too much more. Any other suggestions?

My bridesmaids are wearing coral as well! Our colours are ivory, coral and hints of pale green. Our bouquets are made up of white orchids, 1/2 ivory roses and 1/2 coral roses with a few stems of green hydrangeas. I think you can go either way really. At first I thought I wanted something really tropical, but I later settled on something more classic for the bouquets and a few more tropical arrangements for the gazebo!

Happy Thanksgiving JayKay and the other Canadian ladies on here! Here's to trying to eat healthy throughout the holiday season!

Good luck Peach! I hope the weather holds out for you and that you're able to get some pics in! Just an update! We had a beautiful session on Thurs! The weather was perfect...nice and sunny and just shy of 20 degrees Celsius! Not bad for October! Unfortunately with the warm weather, the leaves weren't quite as orange and red as I was hoping, but I'm hoping they will turn out well anyways! I was convinced that I would feel awkward throughout the whole session, but our photographers were amazing and made us feel so comfortable! Now I can't wait to see the pics and take more on our wedding day! Good luck with the rest of your pics and keep us posted! I'll share some of mine once I get them in! Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Has anyone else heard any details about The Pieces having a minimum number of guests? When I first inquired about an outdoor option, I was told this was not possible. Also, does anyone know if you can just rent it out for the dance instead of the gazebo?

I like the Jcrew one too, but I also like the first one with the floral halter! That being said, all are great choices!

Haha...I'm sure at least one of two of our guys won't be able to figure it out either! lol! Thanks for the answer! I was looking at the tape, but holding out in case someone else had an ingenious idea for how to close them! Considering I never noticed the tape on any of your pics, its pretty unnoticeable! I think I'll give it a shot! Thanks again!

Awww!! We are starting to worry about weather here too...not quite snow but I might freeze in my skirt! Oh well, beauty is pain! lol! It may be cold, but a little bit of snow could definitely add to your pictures! I've seen some amazing snow fall e-pics! Just don't freeze! Let us know how they go!

Mrs Weiss, Thank you SO much for posting all of this! I LOVE this idea!! We had already sent out out STDs and invites, so we decided that we would send them out as our "Thank You" after the wedding! Needless to say, I've started working on them already so they'll be ready to go once we get home! I too am disappointed with the boxes, they don't fold anywhere near as nicely as one would guess! Somehow yours came out so well! I'm going to have to keep working on my folding skills! Just a question, how did you close the boxes in the end? I didn't see that detail in your instructions? If I glue them down, then I'm sure people will just tear the box apart, but I don't want them to come open in the mail either? How did you secure the flap? Thanks a bunch and will share a pic once they're done!

Thanks so much Starfish, Peach and Bride 2012! I really appreciate all of your input! We were having such a hard time! So I made my FI (he was less than impressed) try on a whole bunch of outfits the other night, and I think we finally have it figured out! We're going to do 2 separate outfits, and use jackets with scarves over another outfit for a 3rd easy look. Our first outfit it more dressy, with my FI in a dress shirt and dress pants, and I'll wear a skirt and nice sweater. We're hoping to do some of the more formal shots around our Parliament buildings,etc. Then we're changing into dark denim and trying to look coordinated ish with him in a chocolate brown top and me with a chocolate tank and tan sweater. We're going to do more of the playing in the leaves and waterfront shots in those. Then we'll add the jackets for some pics overlooking the city and more urban pics. So I think we finally figured it out! Wow, what a lot of coordinating for a simple photo shoot! I think the main thing is that we'll be comfortable and look like ourselves, just like you ladies suggested! So thanks again so much for the tips! Wish me luck this Thurs, and I'll make sure to post once I get some pictures back!

Our travel agent was Cheryl from Uniglobe out of Vancouver. Long story, but we ended up with her because of a reference from a family friend. She is not a wedding specialist by any means. I tried countless other TAs, including some in the US, prior to going with her! I can understand your frustration! We're with Sunquest, and our guests are about split down the middle with Toronto and Ottawa departures. We booked in March and our guest deposits ($200) were due by the end of April with final payments due in November. The prices are as follows for the all inclusive: From Toronto: $1200 + $193.61 taxes = $1393.61 total From Ottawa: $1270 + $193.61 taxes = $1463.61 total With Sunquest, we also got one guest free for every 10 we booked, which was an extra bonus! It helped us fly one of our photographers down for free! Also you need to factor in what time of the year you're going. We're going in the high season, so we thought these prices were fabulous! If you're going in the lower season (April-Oct) I've seen people with much better deals than us. Good luck!

We're doing fans, bubbles and a one page program. Our program is super simple and printed on the same cardstock as our invites. It lists the order of events, our bridal parties names and a brief thank you. I figured it would provide some explanation to those who may have never seen a sand ceremony or hand ceremony, etc. That being said, I think you could take it or leave it. It all depends on your preference! That's the beauty of a destination wedding! There are no strict rules!

We budgeted $12,000, but are running at about $9,500. That includes a catamaran/Dunn's River excursion as a thank you for all of our guests, our bridal party's suits and dresses, the gazebo with DJ and bartender for our reception, an upgraded flower package with arrangements for the gazebo, our travel, flying our photographers in and OOT stuff galore! So far so good! I think we'll definitely be coming in under budget (my FI never thought he'd see the day!) Tekeya - your video is stunning! What an amazing keepsake! I had originally thought video was overrated, but now I'm rethinking! lol!

This seller has really cute bridal hoodies at super reasonable prices! I really liked the Victoria Secret one with the little blue bows, but couldn't justify that it was going to cost me $79.99 including tax and shipping! I ordered one of these that is personalized on both back and front and only cost be $39 including shipping to Canada! $40.00 savings, plus personalization, and then I don't have to try to sell it after to make up some of the cost! Definitely worth checking out! http://www.myonestopblingshop.com/category_25/Hoodies-Pants.htm

Thanks Bride2012! Your pics were fabulous! And looks like you had a fun time shooting them too! That's exactly what I was thinking about doing...complimentary colours! Things that are in the same colour palate without being exactly the same shade! Now I just need to go through the closet and see what we already have that will coordinate! When I said matchy matchy, I meant that I've seen some where both people wear khakis and white dress shirts - that's too coordinated for my liking I think. One more question, given that we're going to likely do 2-3 outfit changes, should we try to do a more formal look? Thinking a cocktail dress and heels for me, and dress pants and dress shirt for my FI? I think it would be nice, but all of the fall e-pics I've seen have been more casual and playing with the leaves, outdoorsy, etc. I'm just scared to waste a bunch of our pics on formal outfits that end up looking silly in the end!? Any opinions?