modegirl79

Hmmm...sorry about the problem w/ the photo link. It looks like they want you to register in order to view the photos. Registration is definitely free. My photos are huge file sizes, so I have to see if I can shrink down in order to post here. If you e-mail me at [email protected], I can send you photos by e-mail. -April

Hello everyone - I'm April from NJ and just got married in St. Thomas on May 27th while sailing on the Carnival Miracle. Though it rained on our day (which is good luck), our wedding was fantastic, and I will be sure to post all about it! =) I am hoping to sell most, if not all, of the following items together as a LOT, but am willing to negotiate. Buyer(s) responsible for shipping (to be calculated) and money must be sent via PayPal to [email protected]. Please e-mail me there with any specific questions. Alright, so here's what I've got: One (1) Silver "S" cake-topper purchased for $10.99 - unused, in box. Purchased as a back-up because we didn't think our box would make it to St. Thomas in time - but it did! =) Four (4) Kate Aspen yellow and blue flip-flop luggage tags, each in clear gift box with white ribbon. Purchased at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $2/each. Ten (10) Mini travel-themed notepads w/ matching pens. Purchased at Michael's on sale for 70 cents/each (orig. $1/each). Ten (10) Tropical-themed 3x5" magnetic photo frames. Purchased at Michael's on sale for 70 cents/each (orig. $1/each). Six (6) Mini flip-flop playing cards. Purchased online for 59 cents/each. One (1) Box of mini green/yellow champagne bubbles, 24 count (full box size). Did not pack these with our big shipment, and could not bring them on our cruise, since bubbles are prohibited. Purchased online for $15. One (1) COACH(!!!) striped multi-colored wristlet in gift box. Wristlet is bronze, turquoise, white, fuschia and pink. Purchased from Coach outlet store for $40. This was meant to be a bridesmaid gift, but since one of my two bridesmaids caused me A LOT of grief and I ended up paying for part of her trip, no way was she ALSO going to get a Coach wristlet from me! Hence, it is for sale. And I'm DEFINITELY willing to sell this separately - will part with it for $30 plus shipping. These wristlets normally sell for about $50, so it's a deal, even with shipping costs. Total of ALL of the above items: About $90. If you are interested in the entire lot, I am willing to sell for $60 plus shipping (to be calculated) - and that would include the Coach wristlet! I prefer to sell everything together, but I understand not everyone may need an "S" cake-topper... Photos of all of the above items available at: Snapfish: Share:Registration Please let me know if you are interested - thank you! -April

Sorry for the delayed reply - wanted to thank you for your great advice. I'm very happy to say that everything worked itself out during the week. I politely and calmly told H she has three options: a) go on PART of the cruise (we were all willing to accept this, even though it is foolish); go to St. Thomas for a few days or c) don't go at all. Well, I guess she did some serious thinking, realized she was sort of in-the-wrong and called me to say she chose St. Thomas for a few days AND booked a flight. The next day, she booked her hotel. Meanwhile, K's sister is coming on the cruise in H's place. She is THRILLED to be doing so, and I know she'll really enjoy it. I really do wish H could be on the cruise as originally planned, but at least we came to a resolution that works for everyone. I'm very relieved, because I don't know how much more tension I could take! Thanks again.

It’s ironic – you would think a destination wedding would be LESS stressful than a big, traditional affair, right? Well, in the past week, I’ve been experiencing major bridesmaid issues – they are major because final payment for our trip is due on Tuesday, so decisions MUST be made (wedding is end of May)! I’m feeling pretty frustrated & disappointed and unsure of how to proceed with handling things, so if anyone has any advice to offer, I’d be hugely appreciative. Here’s what happened: I have two bridesmaids, let’s call them H and K – I wouldn’t call either one a “maid of honor.†They are both equally good friends (I have no sisters). I’ve known H for 10 years and K for 8. Anyway, they both agreed to cruise with us for a week, nearly all expenses paid by my parents, staying in the same two-person cabin. And all seemed well… …but then, in the fall, H and K each lost their jobs within weeks of each other. K has been diligently searching for a new job, while H has been struggling to figure out what she wants to do. K assured me that if she gets a job before the cruise, she WILL make sure she gets the week off, and I trust that she can (she’s done this before). H, on the other hand, calls me LAST WEEK to let me know that she’s decided to go back to school for a rather “obscure†field of study and needs to take some undergrad classes before she can apply. She needs to take an intro class before she can take other classes. She says she can only find the class at one school, a summer session that meets 4 days a week from May-June. She insists she needs to take the class this summer in order to be able to take other classes she needs in the fall and spring. On top of that, she told me she just can’t miss 4 days of class, and is afraid to ask the professor to make special arrangements for her. She’s afraid she won’t do well in the class if she doesn’t go to nearly every single one. If she doesn’t take the summer session class, she’s convinced she won’t get into a grad program until Fall 2012 and really wants to start Fall 2011. I’ve helped her search for the class she needs to see if there is another option in the summer – it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. H put this “offer†on the table, which, in her mind, is perfectly acceptable – rather than cruise out of the departure/return port, she’ll pick up the cruise halfway at one of the ports of call (yes, you can do this, thankfully). This is now going to require a one-way flight she otherwise wouldn’t have had to take, which she said she is willing to pay for. I believe H was expecting me to say “NO PROBLEM!†and that her airfare would also be paid for. Uh…no. It IS a problem. IT’S NOT PRACTICAL!!! Who the heck takes PART of a cruise unless it’s for an URGENT matter?! NOT MANY PEOPLE! And what if she has a big flight delay and doesn’t get there in time? Sorry, but my parents ONLY agreed to pay for cruise fare, and are pretty insulted by this whole thing. Cruise fare is the SAME, whether you are on the whole cruise or not. They aren’t going to pay for her airfare, and you know what? Neither am I! Forget that. H says she really wants to be there and that “things change†and she couldn’t foresee not having that whole week available when we first made these plans. When I told her my parents were pretty perturbed by this, she then said “well, maybe I shouldn’t go at all – I don’t want to have a bad time on the cruise.†She’s acting like I’m being the bad guy about this! I’m not! I want to see her figure things out and do well, and I told her exactly that. She’s almost 30 years old, so it’s about time she gets it together. But she’s not viewing this from MY perspective, from my fiance’s perspective, from my parents’ perspective. She even said I owe her an apology for making this complicated. WTF?! SHE is making this complicated. I think if she TRULY wants to be there, then it would be best for her to go to the island for a few days and meet us there. But this presents an issue for K – who would room with her on the cruise? My parents don’t want to pay a second fare for someone who won’t be there (for each cabin, you pay two fares, regardless). K said her sister might be able to take H’s place on the cruise (her sister is another friend of mine). If that happens, what should I do? Should I help H get to the island so she can still be in the wedding, as originally planned? OR, should I tell H she should just focus on her class and forget the whole thing? I mean, is this pretty much signaling the end of our friendship? Thanks for "listening," April

Thanks to everyone! Feel free to "steal" my ideas...LOL! Just another little tip for all of you - definitely don't overlook any stores that may be going out of business! Here in the US, there are a lot of Cononuts, FYE and Blockbuster stores that are closing. I just went to FYE yesterday and found something great for the guys - totally did NOT expect to find anything there! Everything was half-off, and they had a TON of these Comedy Central "Double-Chunk" comedy sampler CDs...lots of pretty big names like Norm MacDonald, Demetri Martin, Lewis Black. Two CDs packaged like a big chocolate bar. Well, they were $5 original price, and I got them for $2.50 each! While I doubt the guys will have portable CD players with them (kinda obsolete now with iPods and all!), it is something they can use when they are back home. I am a total bargain hunter, so when I came across these, I just HAD to go for them - so glad I did! Also, wanted to share with you my invitation, which is actually a favor in and of itself. My mom found this site that makes invitations in a bottle for just about anything. So, the invitations are "messages in a bottle" with sand, shells, palm tree and drink umbrella inside - not to mention the invitation itself. They're a little pricey if you have a big guest list (work out to be about $6 each with all the little additions), but if you aren't inviting a ton of people, it is worth the price. Heck, "regular" invitations can cost just as much, depending on how fancy the paper is and whatnot. So I think these are a great deal!

Hey there...getting married in St. Thomas in May while on a cruise. =) Expect about 30 people, including 5 little kids. Already have some great favor bag items lined up, and wanted to share... First off, my main color theme is green, with a little bit of purple thrown in. You have no idea what a chore it is to items in these colors! Of course, these colors totally do not work for the guys at all, but for the girls, they work just great! One "girl" item I found that I just love is a travel sewing kit. I found them for $1.69/ea. plus shipping at createforless.com. Ironically, they come in purple, green (and hot pink). I am so impressed with these kits - 6 spools of thread, buttons, needles, thimble, tape measure, scissors, safety pins. Such a great deal for the price! I highly recommend! =) I also came across these purple and green (how convenient!) flip-flop notepads. Found them at Wrapwithus.com for $1.99/ea., which was the cheapest I came across. For the guys, I am going with the obvious - deck of cards and likely a beach theme bottle opener of some sort. Haven't quite figured them out yet, since they are so "difficult!" Everyone is getting a cruise ship luggage tag (Kate Aspen favor) and a pair of Old Navy flip flops - purple or green for the girls, brown for the guys. And, finally, I work at a consumer products company and am throwing in some product for everyone - very useful product like toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, etc. I get this stuff dirt cheap (not free, unfortunately), so it's an inexpensive way to fill up the bags! ;-) Also, wanted to mention that I found very cute sterling silver pearl lariat necklaces for my two bridesmaids at EvesAddiction.com. Their jewelry is excellent quality for the price. Let me know if you have any questions about anything - more than happy to share further information. April

Thanks to you all! Yes, I actually do have a lot done already, which is unusual, because I'm not really a plan-in-advance type person. But with wedding plans, I guess you sort of have to be! LOL! Hope all of you have a great New Year! -April

Hi there - I'm April from Northern NJ/NYC area. My fiance and I will be getting married in St. Thomas on May 27th, 2010. We're actually taking a cruise out of NYC...all because my dad won't fly! It's OK. I actually prefer cruises to land vacations anyway, and I ultimately got my fiance hooked on cruises, too! BUT...I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that NOTHING interferes with us actually getting to St. Thomas! ;-) I've been on many cruises and have never missed a stop, so hopefully that trend will continue. It should be a fun time - we have a group of 23 cruisers including a few small children, and possibly more will decide to join us. We've also got 4 confirmed land vacationers meeting us there, and maybe several more joining them. We're doing a beach ceremony and at the insistence of my parents, a somewhat upscale reception at a nice French restaurant on the island (I was of the mindset of doing something a little more low-key being on an island and all!). Should be an amazing time! We are definitely looking forward to cruising with a group, as it's something we've never done before - the more the merrier! =)