Any 2011 brides out there?

[crislen]

Eeks... it really is only just over 4 months until my wedding in 2011!! The planning has been going ok... a few minor hiccups with some guest-zillas demanding to have the wedding of their dreams which ate up most of my wedding planning time / excitement during the summer but still much better than planning a huge local event.

 

Here is where we are at:

 

• Booked wedding date & cruise (Feb. 2010)
  
• Chose colours: champagne and cornflower blue (Mar. 2010)
  
  
• Created a wedding website (Apr. 2010)
  
  
• Sent out Save the Dates (Apr. 2010)
  
• Booked Hotel Room Block (Sept. 2010)
  
• Booked Hair and makeup for morning of at hotel (Oct. 2010)
  
  
• Ordered wedding dress (Oct. 2010)
  
• Booked Flights to Tampa for fiance and me (Nov. 2010)
  
• Finalized budget (Nov. 2010)
  
  
• Changed colours: champagne and caribbean blue (Nov. 2010)
  
  
• Purchased personalized M&Ms for part of favours (Nov. 2010)
  
• Ordered faux flower bouquets (Nov. 2010)
  
• Picked up wedding earrings (Nov. 2010)
  
• booked flights for mom and siblings (my gosh... that was the hardest part!) (Dec. 2010)
  
  
• Ordered bridesmaid dress (Dec. 2010)
  

These are the things have completed, however we have a whole bunch of things in the planning / discussion stages (my fiance is uh, overly involved invested in every step of the process - it took us 3 days of back and forth over the paper colour for the save the dates since he didn't like the blue colour I bought for them! It wasn't the exact shade he wanted. lol) It is a little harder planning since he is in a city 13 hours away for school at the moment!

 

We are currently working on / hoping to have done soon:

• Tuxedo rental for the boys (no suits, my fiance wants tuxedos since it is his special day and he deserves it)
  
  
• Wedding bands (have quotes out for our custom designs, my fiance has been working on his for over 4 months)
  
• Invitations - we're doing passports yet my fiance can't decide on which stamp to use for the embossing on the front cover
  
• Wedding party - my fiance has yet to choose his best man and my maid of honour doesn't have confirmed leave from the military yet for our wedding.
  
  
• Music - I *think* we've decided what songs to play when but we've yet to burn it all to disc / download all songs
  
• Reception / welcome dinner the night before. We don't know what time people are flying in to know if we are even going to do this.
  
• Choosing if we are having a flower girl / ring bearer - discussions abound.
  
• Updating wedding website re: Chinese Tea Ceremony which will be performed before we go to the cruise ship the morning of (yes, I'm asking for chaos)
  
  

My fiance is home for the next 2 1/2 weeks, but we're involved in a kitchen renovation right now so my hope to tackle most of the items on the in progress list is quickly fading.

 

Time-wise we are ok. I want to send out the formal invites at the beginning of January since time is going by way too quickly! My co-worker is also planning a destination wedding in Mexico 3 days before mine and a huge at-home-reception 2 weeks later and we're further ahead in planning than her, so it gives me some confidence everything will be done on time!

[Lipz]

Lipz- you and your fiance' are going to get your dresses the day we leave for our wedding cruise! Hope you post pics- I'll check when I'm back!:)

 

 

We sure are!

I'll be sure to share....even though I will probably end up with the original dress I tried on back in May.

Sha's face when she saw me in it... priceless!

[Lipz]

 

• Purchased personalized M&Ms for part of favours (Nov. 2010)I didn't even think to do any 'food' favors since my understanding is that yu can't bring it on board. How are you packaging them?
  
  

 

You have got yourself a winner!! You always hear how fiance's aren't doing enough in the wedding planning and you have the exact opposite. It must be a blessing AND a curse! lol

Since I'm part of a two bride duo, we don't are both involved...although not every 'girl/girl' couple have that experience.

[greendragon133]

Hello everyone,

 

Ruby Princess April 16th 2011 at sea!

 

Currently waiting for guests to book, hoping that will pick up after the holidays. It's put some of my planning on hold, since we don't have a confirmed Best man or groomsmen, which in turn means I don't know how many friends to ask to be bridesmaids.

 

We aren't having a reception, just gonna ask to sit together in one of the dining rooms. Small party of about 15. Still gotta make final decisions and fax back my requests to TWE (about flowers and vows) and then phone, phone, phone to make sure they got it.

[crislen]

You have got yourself a winner!! You always hear how fiance's aren't doing enough in the wedding planning and you have the exact opposite. It must be a blessing AND a curse! lol

 

Since I'm part of a two bride duo, we don't are both involved...although not every 'girl/girl' couple have that experience.

 

 

Well with the food as favours - you aren't allowed according to the wedding department rules. But I checked with customs (which is the reason why the wedding department says you can't bring food or flowers on) and you are allowed to bring food (and flowers) on to the boat, you just can't take them off the boat apparently.

 

So it is an arbitrary rule of Carnival Weddings - and since I can still get them on the boat we are going to package them separately and hand them out after the wedding - the wedding dept. isn't involved then. All of my guests are sailing guests so we can individually go to each person / couple and thank them while giving them their favour in the evening after the reception.

 

I've always teased my groom about being a groom-zilla! I'm just glad we aren't doing a local wedding, he'd be more crazy then; but I love him for it!

 

Lipz, I'm glad you're enjoying your planning with your future bride! I honestly think planning a wedding together is a great test of the relationship! lol, gives you a good idea of the dynamics of the relationship going forward!

[Lipz]

crislen ::::: your information on favors has given me a wider range of things to choose from. We have yet to choose but now we don't have to rule edibles out.

I think wedding planning can be one of the most stressful things to do as a couple. Although sometimes one person may feel the other isn't as into it, the opportunities for open communication, joint decision making and compromise, all play a role and can give an indication of how well you work together as a couple.

[aprilmay85]

THANKS aprilmay85 - greatly appreciated, and CONGRATS to you also! We are about to reach the point of no return with all this paperwork and decisions and I'm wondering if I REALLY want to drag this thing out on the deck and give up some of the "package" stuff for a 20 minute ceremony? Was your future MIL happy with the chapel setup? My future hubby thinks "Online it kinda looks conference roomyish" - but we've also got some family members with some mobility issues, so I don't want to drag them over the hill and through the woods to get to an on deck site either - especially if it involves stairs. Also, did she have any last minute guests attending - and if so, how did the ship react? TWE seems rather militant regarding last minute changes And did her onboard "planner" basically take care of everything so it ran smoothly - and did she request the later at sea day to get married? I requested the 1st at sea latest time slot - so we could get it over with and I could actually eat something and not worry about it - but I guess they really don't confirm anything until 30 days out. Sorry to bombard you with all these questions - but it's getting close, and I'm trying my best NOT to become bridezilla:D Thanks again, and how's YOUR planning going?

 

 

No worries...your not Bombarding me :p We thought the chapel was very nice, its small but nice. There were about 35 of us and there were xtra seats!! and she didnt get to pick what day at sea bc of other wedding aboard. But I would DEF recommend doing ti the FIRST day at sea!! there were many arugments & issues bc all the anxiety and stress on the first half of the cruise :( we are getting married the day we board the ship bc of what we all went thru on his mothers wedding cruise hahahah we learned that mistake QUICK!!! we want it over with & enjoy the cruise with family & friends!!! and yes her coordinator did take care of everything...she came to get us when things were ready bc we lost track of time! everything will turn out smooth!!! just sit back, relax BUT enjoy ;) any other questions you can email me...missapril14@yahoo.com...Im down to 37 DAYS!!! Im freaking out!!!! :eek: