AllieH

beautiful!! can't wait to see pics of you in it.

I finally found one that will work - it was inexpensive, and I won't feel guilty if I decide not to wear it for the ceremony. but I will definitely be taking pictures with it!! it's a cathedral with some beads around the edge, for a whopping $37. It'll do just fine!

I think it looks really pretty!!!

The only thing that jumps out at me is how much bigger the flower on your dress looks vs. the one in the shop. Are you going to get a beaded belt too?

beautiful dress!!! Quote: Originally Posted by geishagyrl I can finally share pictures of my dress. I absolutely love my dress. It's an Essense of Australia.

it's gorgeous!!!!

Jen - it's GORGEOUS!!!!!! and fits you perfectly. SCORE on finding a sample. thank you for sharing it with us. I love, LOVE dresses.

WOOHOO!!! I'm so glad it was a great experience and you found THE DRESS! I can't wait to see it.

Do what feels right to you. Forget all the etiquette, forget the rest of the family - do what will make you and your FI happy. Personally I think I would include her name as the parents. And then honor her memory on your wedding day. These are the times when I think wedding etiquette is over-thought, over-analyzed, and gets a little silly. You have to do what feels right to you.

it should be way easier than it is. I'm sorry this is so frustrating! there's no reason for you to be a middle man to begin with, and then for him to be so disorganized isn't acceptable. I have a friend who specializes in booking cruises. I met her because of cruising, and have been on many trips with her. She's also my TA for my DW, and while it isn't her specialty, my guests are thrilled with her services. I've referred a number of friends to her for cruises as well, and they've all had nothing but wonderful feedback. If you're at all interested in changing TAs, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to share her contact info. If you decide to stick it out with Bob, I'd have a heart to heart with him about how unhappy you are with the way things have gone so far, and discuss what can be done differently going forward to improve the situation. It's business, and treat it like that - get the solution/resolution you want. Good luck!!

these look amazing!! you did a great job. thanks for the tut!

I found my veil! It's ebay, not etsy, but I thought some of you frugal gals might be interested too. Venus Veils I got a 1T cathedral veil with beading for a whopping $37, including shipping. And it's PERFECT. I will say it's not the softest tulle, but the look is what I wanted, and the price can't be beat. It shipped fast too, and a US seller. I had been agonizing over the veil decision for a while. I found one that I liked (but not loved) at the shop that's doing my alterations. Even with a trunk show discount, that baby was $200. yes, it was trimmed in swarovski crystals, but it was just fingertip length and I really wanted longer. Plus, the price tag gave me heartburn - what if it's too windy to wear a veil? I don't want to waste $200 for it and then not wear it. My mom even offered to buy it, but I didn't want to spend her money either. So the $37 price tag was perfect for me. Even if it's too windy to wear during the ceremony, we can use it for pictures, and I won't feel guilty over spending that much on it. Happy Shopping!

I bought my paper lanterns from Lunabazaar.com - the 12" no frills paper lantern are around $1.25 each. I'm very happy with them, and while they may not be the cheapest, the quality is good, shipping was quick and I had no concerns.

oooh I missed that welcome letter - thanks!!! I loved Maggie, and actually chose one of the shops I visited because she carried Maggies. unfortunately, Maggie did NOT love me! I also had a crush on Justin Alexander, but similar no-love results. lol You have three different styles, so that's good - stay open minded, and try on different silhouettes and designers. they are all cut differently and will flatter figures in different ways. I almost passed up even trying on my dress because I thought it looked plain and boring on the hanger. I'm glad my friend convinced me to try it on! and then other dresses just made me laugh and laugh.... I won't revisit the cost of set up again before our payment to Lomas. I'm just going to deal with it onsite. I had to push to get a quote up front - unlike Valeria, my coordinator doesn't like to quote ahead of time. Then the quote was pretty outrageous (high!!!). so I'm done with that topic for now. I'm thinking that I want a vertical tie for the chair sashes, vs. a horizontal bow. but we'll see - it may be one of those details that I decide I don't care so much about at the last minute!

the dress is gorgeous!!!! focus on it, and take the rest of your business elsewhere. I did the same thing - hated the store where I bought the dress, and have been working with another shop who is doing my alterations.

Jennifer - those are great choices! I can't wait to see how yours turn out. I am loving the idea of being able to keep my flowers - will put them in a vase in our bedroom. We have the calla lillies & orchids as corsages for the mothers and bouts for the guys. His bout is a white orchid with the white calla lilly. Quote: Originally Posted by JennyBenz Allie that bouquet is beautiful!!! I decided to go with Angel's Accents they have rave reviews! I'm going with orchids in my bouquet, in purple & fuchsia. And the BM will have a mix of calla lilies, orchids, and other flowers in fuchsia, purple, & orange. The groomsmen will have an orange calla lily. I'm so excited, I just placed my order so I won't see them until April, which makes me crazy- I wish I could have them already! This was definitely the best chioce we made doing the real touch. I'd love to come home with my wedding flowers =) Here are some of my inspiration pictures [not correct colors] but just to give you an idea of Angelyn's work. I left her to figure out how the bouquets would look best =) Here is the bouquet I loved for my BM! Some orchids will be included in here & it'll be modified a bit. [in orange,fuchsia, & purple] all rights reserved to Angel's Accents =) AngelsAccents.com Here is what I'm doing for my bouquet [in purple & fucshia]...

I'm with you on the snowball effect. Dialing it back is more difficult - I'm blaming pinterest and all the amazing wedding photos that are out there. What about using a fake flower? Those should be much less than $18, and the real touch lillies are absolutely gorgeous. I'm putting my brother in charge of the iPod (we will have 2, in case one dies or freezes up on us), and a friend in charge of the timeline. Plus my photographer is a good bride/groom wrangler, so she'll keep us on track. I just can't see spending that much for a DJ. Frankly it isn't in our budget... I've been told we can't do our own set up either, but then other brides have said they've been able to do it. I think it's going to be one of those things that we'll have to wait and see once we get to EDR and talk about it with the onsite coordinator. I'm going to keep the OOT bags fairly simple - again, mostly due to budget. I'm doing shout wipes, aleve, tylenol, immodium, lip balm - and will put all of those into a fancied up brown bag. I'll have a "welcome to Mexico" letter, along with a timeline of the events stuffed in there. I'm going to do mugs because I think it's the one thing that people will really appreciate onsite, and will use when they get home again. I'm looking at Factory 21 for my mugs - 50 for $110. I don't see a 50 listing right now, but the seller is also on eBay. http://www.etsy.com/listing/88493000/75-custom-destination-wedding-favor?ref=sr_gallery_14&ga_search_query=factory+21&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_page=1&ga_search_type=all the downside of Factory 21 is that it's either a white or black mug - not much choice. the other option I'm considering for the mugs is hitting dollar tree and grabbing a bunch of their $1 travel mugs (the only downside is their colors are limited to red, blue and black, but meh, this may not be so important to me), and then adding a sticker from this seller: http://www.etsy.com/listing/95216831/120-custom-glossy-waterproof-wedding another bride has used the sticker method and says they work really well. We are using the grocery store type "green" shopping bags as the OOT bags - something that can be used at the beach, and also when they get home again. as far as lugging it all down...we are going to have the mugs sent to my parents and have them bring those. they are traveling together, and we will pay for the extra checked bag. we will have 2 extra checked bags of "stuff" ourselves (4 total - 1 bag each of clothes, and 1 bag each of extras), and then I have a friend here in town who is going and can take another bag if we need her to. I will make sure we have all of the decorations for the ceremony & reception, and my friend/parents have OOT bag stuff (that assembly should be fairly easy to do onsite). hope that helps with some ideas!! what sort of dresses are you looking at? do you have a silhouette in mind? a style (DW typical, ballgown, lace, etc)?

YAY!!!!! Wishing you all the best! safe travels, and I can't wait to hear about it! Enjoy your stay.

thank you!!! Quote: Originally Posted by Lizrmt I love the yellowish callas, gives them an extra pop of color! Your bouquet is gorgeous the way it is!

Sure! Here are a couple of pics. The lighting isn't the best in this first one, the flower on the left is champagne, and the one on the bottom right is taupe. and a different picture (not my dress). Quote: Originally Posted by FIFAbride My dress is ivory Can you send me a picture of it?

I scooped up the chair sashes from another BDW bride. Got 100 of those suckers for a steal! they are orange - so if orange is one of your colors, I can certainly pass them on to you. If orange isn't your color, you may want to check out this website: http://www.tableclothsfactory.com/tablecloths-Table-Linens-Chair-Covers-Sashes-s/5.htm or, since you have time, order from Asia - this eBay seller is in Hong Kong, and it's 100 sashes for $25. these are green, but I saw other colors listed. and yes, EDR really nickels and dimes you to death. except it's more like $10 or $20 a pop. I think that's one of the things I'm most disappointed about since choosing EDR. There are a lot of nice touches I'd like to add, but I really can't justify paying $8 for a tiki torch, or $75 for a few floating lanterns. I'm convincing myself that EDR is such a lovely setting, I won't need a lot of those nice touches, so I can just save my $$ for other things that are more needed ($250 for an amplifier for the iPod for the reception for instance). Some of the other brides have said that they were able to have their friends/family do the set up, which is what I'm aiming for. my friends say they are all game to help, so I'm going to take them up on the offer (especially since I'm not making any of them buy a bridesmaids dress or stand up with us!). good luck with the dress shopping!!! enjoy the experience, every second of it. I hope you find your dream dress, within your budget. just remember, "liking" a dress isn't good enough. I've got quite a bit of the "stuff" for our OOT bags on the way this week. So that will be my next DIY project. I can't believe I'm at 4.5 months already! It seems like yesterday we were counting down at a year to go. Where does the time go??

Here's my inspiration: and here's my actual bouquet I'm thinking I might try to color the callas just a bit - they are more yellow than orange. But not sure if I have the right ink or paint for it.

Hi! would you be willing to share where you got the loose LED lights? I was too slow to see the post.. thanks!

Ivory or white? I have a vintage sash that would look gorgeous with it that I'm trying to sell (yes, I have a purpose for asking lol). It's ivory, with ivory flowers, and a touch of champagne and taupe. It's gorgeous, but just doesn't look right with my dress. Honestly, your dress would look great with bling, or with something more vintage, depending on the style you're aiming for. Have you tried any on with the dress in the shops?

so cute!!!