I am the ANTI-Bride

[TravelingGal]

Date: 8/31/2006 11:49:08 AM
Author: Gypsy
Give us budgets for each thing. And we''ll help you figure that stuff out. Every person is different. If the planning the nit picky details isn''t your thing... well, that''s just you. Nothing wrong with that.

Give us a location, a ''feel'' and budgets for each thing you don''t want to do... and we''ll help you... give you options, and you pick one. Especially with things like color schemes, flowers, invites... not a problem... by the way I saw beautiful dress like you are describing the other day... now I''ve just got to figure out where I saw it!

ETA:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2911004/0~2376776~2374327~6005464~6005511~6005548?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6005548&P=2

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2861554/0~2376776~2374327~6005464~6005465?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6005465&P=1

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2891272/0~2376776~2374327~6005464~6005465?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6005465&P=1

BTW Gypsy, love the dress you picked...as I mentioned before, you have great taste (except for ghoul cakes, but even then, I could see that the cake was cool! )

 

[E B]

Definitely look into an all-inclusive resort package. You can find packages with almost everything you need, and sometimes, they're suprisingly affordable!

Here's a resort (offering wedding packages) that looks nice in Cozumel:

The Reef Club

...and there are always the Sandals Resorts in the Carribean:

Sandals Resorts

One of the cool things about using Sandals is their "wedding planner to the stars, Preston Bailey" packages (that include most of the little details like the groom's boutonniere). For example, The Floral Elegance Collection

If you ever need or want any help, please, let me know. I'm a research nut, no kidding.

 

[firebirdgold]

My Fi says that one of the more annoying things about being engaged is all the unsolicited advice he gets from married couples. Most of it boils down to 'do what makes you happy', that's in reference to the wedding of course.

Makes me wonder how many of them wished that's what they had done for theirs.

Once I started thinking about guest lists and all the other details I just started to get this knot in my stomach. My fi looked at me and my bridal magazines one day and said "I just don't want a wedding I'll dread beforehand". It struck me that I'd been starting to dread it already too. So we just tossed out everything that caused us stress. Guests? poof! gone. Reception? poof! Shoes? Poof!
We're going to have a family-only wedding on a hawaiian beach somewhere in bare feet followed by a nice private dinner hopefully under the stars. That's just ten people including us! We'll tell the resort's wedding coordinator what we like in vauge terms and let her take care of everything.

I care about the dress so that's what I'll focus on, but for everyone it's different.
Oh, and for the invites you'd think there'd be a place online that would do everything for you, all you have to do is give it your guest list with addresses.


ETA: I LOVE the Preston Bailey Floral Elegance Wedding look! If I'd been able to talk my fi into a carribean island that'd have been my pick! Sadly the only way to get my beloved onto a white sand beach with warm turquoise ocean lapping onto the shore is by bribing him with a visit to mega-sized telescopes and a live volcano.

 

[littlelysser]

First - must say...no worries about hyjacking the thread! PUH-LEASSSE! Plan away...get ideas...shoot, I''m just kind of soaking it all in.

And is anyone else having a hard time concentrating on work today? Three day weekends...day before they start is pure hell!

Anyhoodle!


Deco - you are scaring me!!!!!

Travelinggal - I read your last thread after Deco posted it here. I do think it may have something to with age...I''m 32...but I also think I would probably have felt similarly if I was getting married at 23.

Tybee - WHere are your pics? I want to see ''em!

And Ebree and Gypsy - Thank you guys! I really appreciate the effort. You guys just rock...I''m going to check out the links now!

Is it 5pm yet?

 

[Tybee]

Date: 9/1/2006 10:42:13 AM
Author: littlelysser
First - must say...no worries about hyjacking the thread! PUH-LEASSSE! Plan away...get ideas...shoot, I''m just kind of soaking it all in.

And is anyone else having a hard time concentrating on work today? Three day weekends...day before they start is pure hell!

Anyhoodle!


Deco - you are scaring me!!!!!

Travelinggal - I read your last thread after Deco posted it here. I do think it may have something to with age...I''m 32...but I also think I would probably have felt similarly if I was getting married at 23.

Tybee - WHere are your pics? I want to see ''em!

And Ebree and Gypsy - Thank you guys! I really appreciate the effort. You guys just rock...I''m going to check out the links now!

Is it 5pm yet?

Littlelysser,
I think that my pictures might be on the third page---
Don''t tempt me to post more!!! I love POSTING my pics!
BTW, I''m 38. Was 37 when we got engaged. You are singing my song! Everything ended up great
in the end, though. Letting someone else plan it was key!

 

[littlelysser]

Tybee - saw them...and that is pretty much EXACTLY what I want. Those are great pics too! Soo cute! (so are your dogs, btw!)

 

[BrightSpot]

Date: 8/31/2006 12:04:02 PM
Author: Mara
my mom TOTALLY would have been getting involved and micro-managing things if it would have been local. but guess what? when it''s in hawaii or some other locale, they just have to trust you and what you are doing because they don''t know the area like they do with a local thing. there''s no way for them to get involved and try to take control when the wedding is far away or in a strange location. it left me with a very freeing feeling, also everyone was so excited about the tropical locale that it wasn''t so much about the wedding as in a WEDDING but more like a fun trip with everyone where we''d get married too.

Hey little, I felt absolutely the same way you do about my wedding! DH & I had a DW at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica & it was a wonderful choice for us. There was an on-site wedding planner who handled all of the details I didn''t care that much about (flowers, food, decorations, etc.) We arrived on a Thursday, had a meeting with the coordinator on Friday to plan the wedding then got married on Saturday. It was super easy & prevented us from micromanaging the details. And, like Mara mentioned above, this also prevented my mom from trying to micromanage the details like she would''ve if we''d had a local wedding.

That gave me the time & freedom to put energy into the things I wanted to do for the wedding (attire, jewelry, fun save-the-dates), but I didn''t have to worry about things that didn''t interest me (place cards, etc.) The DW was also very cost effective for us. We had 33 people there & everyone treated it as a vacation & had a great time.

I think a DW would be a great option for you. Good luck in your planning (or lack there of!)

You are certainly not alone--lots of us here were blessed with the sparkly gene, but not the bride gene!

 

[wifey2b]

Date: 8/31/2006 2:09:11 PM
Author: littlelysser
Yay! I''m not a total freak! Well, at least not for THAT reason. Hehee. I always tell people that I am entirely missing the bridal gene. The engagement ring gene? Oh I TOTALLY got that one...just never imagined myself walking down the isle in a big dress and all that. Sparklie on my finger? Hell yes!

We are definitely thinking destination...probably somewhere in Mexico or the Carribean. My family and friends are all over the East Coast and the Mid-West. FI''s family is in Holland...so we are trying to pick some place that is fairly accessible to everyone. I am close to my nuclear family...not too close to my extended family...thus it will be close family and friends. I''ve been really lucky in life to have amazing friends...they are like a second family to me...so they''ve GOT to be there too. And they range in occupations from lawyers at big law firms to folks working on their Phds...so cost will definitely be important.

My best friend from highschool just married her partner in Massachusetts - got married in a nice park by a JOP...no one else around...and I was jealous!

Really, I just want a party on a beach where Jan and I get married.

And as much as I LOVE Hawaii (and I do...it my favorite place on earth), it would be cost prohibative for a number of people I want to come...

As for funds...we will have some money...but we bought a house together two years ago...and my parents always said, you can either have a big old wedding, or the money for a down payment on a house. I called them and asked for the $$ for the downpayment...and voila...and I''m super grateful for the decision...but it means that we will be paying for things largely on our own. Which, honestly, probably plays a part in my hesitancy. Feh. I just don''t want to go in to debt to finance the wedding.

Wifey2b - I am pretty lucky in that my parents are totally behind the small wedding on the beach. They had a big old wedding for my sister''s wedding (who got divorced less than two years later, but that is neither here nor there)...so they got it out of their system. They even took it alright when I told them I didn''t want to invite Aunts and Uncles.

Gypsy - I really like that dress! Right now, I''ve GOT to lose some poundage...as I do not want to look like a beached whale in my wedding pics! When things start getting closer...I''ll definitely appreciate some guidance! For now...how about cool resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico? All inclusive would be ideal.

Aquarius - I total understand. My FI''s family is in Holland. They''ve done quite well financially, but a number of his friends probably will not be able to make it. Which makes me sad.

And I do want the food to be yummy. And I want to look good...but yikes...feeling.overwhelmed. must put head down!

oh, and also, you guys rock!

I hope I didnt give the wrong idea, but it isn''t my folks who are against a small wedding - its the rest of the family - giggle....they just all want things to go their way in it - lol

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 8/31/2006 11:02:45 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 8/31/2006 11:49:08 AM

BTW Gypsy, love the dress you picked...as I mentioned before, you have great taste (except for ghoul cakes, but even then, I could see that the cake was cool! )

LOL TG! I like that dress a lot... did you check out the price?? It's a fabulous deal depending on what that fabric is like in person. I think it's like $150. Can't beat that.

This one is nice too.. different from the other in style (look really cute in black too).

http://a1216.g.akamai.net/f/1216/955/6h/images2.nordstrom.com/ImageGallery/store/Product/Gigantic/10/_5176610.jpg

 

[Fancy605]

that''s a lovely dress, gypsy.

But geeze, is it just me, or does it hang funny on that hungry lil model?

 

[E B]

Ooh, Gypsy, I love that dress! Great find.

Here's another, JCrew's classic tea-length "Sophia" (for under $200!):

 

[E B]

Here''s one from White House Black Market (www.whitehouseblackmarket.com) for $168 (ivory sash is available):

 

[littlelysser]

OMG Gypsy! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that dress. Absolutely love it.

Ebree - I really like the second you posted too. I am definitely going for something relatively simple.

Thank you so much guys!