sswed13

Congrats and welcome to BDW. This website is wonderful and has many inspirational ideas. Happy planning

Hi Lauren, Welcome to the site fellow Calgarian Yes it can be overwhelming at first. Try to prioritize your list: select a resort, start looking for a dress, invites etc. I signed up on www.weddingwire.com and also made my wedding webiste via that site. It is easy to navigate, and has a readymade checklist! Maybe that will help you to organize everything that needs to be done. We are getting married June 2013 at Barcelo Maya Tropical in Mayan Riviera. When we were selecting a resort, we made a list of "must haves" and "like to have" at the resort. Our list included things like many restaurants, beachfront property, large resort, multiple pools, kid friendly. We decided on Mexico - Riviera Maya specifically because my FI insisted on white sandy beaches, and I wanted direct flights. We have family from Calgary, Van, Toronto, and the US. Flying from Calgary during June, we wanted to ensure the majority of our Western Canada guests don't have to have connecting flights, so that right there knocked off Jamaica and DR as destination options (Calgary folks would have to route through Toronto). We didn't see the point in spending all that money to have your guests waste a day flying there and back. We have family flying from all over Canada and the US, we knew we wanted a TA to help us organize and arrange the travel for our guests. I attended two of the Bridal Shows in Calgary and from that signed up for a Destination Wedding Seminar with AMA. We went to the AMA Seminar which was oh so helpful. We talked to many different travel agents (uniglobe, flightcenter etc), but we really appreciated the service AMA offered. We booked with them, and our TA is wonderful! She sends me regular updates when people have booked- the best email ever Currently, we have 60 people booked and counting, so like you, we are expecting a big group of people, and the Barcelo is a large resort which will accmomodate our guests. We are paying $1570 (incl taxes) for June 9-16 with direct flights from calgary, (toronto is $1350) As for dresses, I have been to a lot of stores in Calgary. -The Bridal Center requires an appointment- I personally did not go there for my dress, but my friend did, and she found hers there, and everytime we've had lovely service. My friend paid their $50 for their "wedding passport", and she loves the perks. She ordered our BM dresses and her grooms + groomsmens tux's there- it's a one stop shop. -I made an appointment at Beautiful Bride and Cameo & Cufflinks -I did walk in's at Blissful Bride, Sonia's, Ever After, and Ethos If you're up for a drive one day/weekend, I went to the David's Bridal in Edmonton South Common, I didn't make an appointment (but I was there during the week, so it wasn't busy and I had a consultant within 20 min) Happy Planning Sabina

this is probably my favorite thread on this site. I am brought to tears and very inspired. I can't wait to make my own contribution.

That is a lovely hand ceremony. I never heard of that part in a wedding before. I absolutely love it!

took the words right out of my mouth

just beautiful!

i think you formulated a lovely speech to give credit where credit's due. I also agree with branya2012 that if your husband would like to say something to thank his mom then that would be lovely too.

I like the one layer- the two layer looked like too much material and was too thick. with the one layer, its airy and dainty and the dress can still be seen beneath

I wasn't going to wear a veil at first, until my mom insisted that I wouldn't look like a bride if I didn't wear a veil. *harsh eh? well, I didn't budget for a veil, and I ended up trying on a Toni Federici Swavorski scalloped edge finger tip length in the store and it looked gorgeous- the only heartbreaker was the $495 price tag. But cuz mother dearest wants me in a veil, she'll be paying for it- we both win

well done! looks professional

awesome idea!

This sounds like a great idea and thoughtful for your BMs. Did you see a pic for inspirations? Im curious to know what would it look like

I think that's a great idea having them as such an important role for your FI. I don't think the picture would look unbalanced- it would be a symbol of your new family. Just think of how many bridal parties are formed because of friendships and the bond with the bride and groom and not based on the person's height. Would the boys prefer to sit during the ceremony? Maybe in the front row with their grandparents? And for pictures, maybe do all the immediate family portraits first and that way they will be interested and well behaved for those, and by the time pictures are taken with the friends group they may not necessarily be in those. These are all little suggestions that I hope can help you. For my 7 year old step son to be, he too is very excited. He keeps asking "when are we going for the wedding?" And we'll tell him "7 months", his reply "that's a long time." So cute. We are going to be doing a sand ceremony to include him and also having a slide show including many pictures of us as a family. My FI and I were just recently discussing also including him in the cake cutting. Good luck with your planning

I love these!

Congrats to all you June 8 brides- thats my birthday I'm getting marred on June 12

Those look lovely!

We are getting legally married in Canada and having a symbolic wedding in Mexico. One of my dearest friends is a pastor and will ordain our wedding in mexico as well. We are only informing our immediate family that we are getting married pre-mexico. We are planning to sign a piece of paper in mexico at the ceremony to make it 'look' real, but for the most part all of our other guests will not know. We will be using our wedding date in mexico as our anniversary date for the years to come.

This place looks spectaular! congratulations!!

Hey ladies! Groupon deal on now! $29 for value up to $80 at Picaboo http://www.groupon.com/deals/dc-bst-picaboo-abbotsford?c=all&p=3

My MIL is in the same boat. We did find a dress with rusching (spelling?) along the midline and came together with a collection of small roses to one side which camo'd her tummy area. The only thing is the dress came to below her knees which made her look even shorter than her 4'11" frame. So she will have to get a few inches chopped for sure. That dress we saw on sale at an outlet mall for $39. That was in New Jersey (where she lives). It is so much cheaper down in the states!

My mom is getting her dress made- we have a seamstress. It's gonna be pretty simple, straight cut to the knee, but the detail will be in the neck line and a soft flowing sleeve on one side. She got the pattern from my friend and we're just going to have our seamstress copy it. The only question now is color

great photos!

What a fantastic idea all around. The T shirts are so creative! No doubt your guests will have a blast. Thank you for sharing

I love the maracas. My friend had a DW last year and her mom brought back the maracas for her AHR. Her BM wrote her name and her hubby's name on each. So neat