ok so here goes... let me know if I miss anything

first and foemost... CB!!! one of my MOH used this site when she was planning her wedding in 2005 and really talked me into joining.... better advice she could not have given me.... this site has allowed me to vent when I had nowhere else to vent... and more so let me talk and ramble on all about my excitement that I was feeling.... with out the eye rolls and the coments... my family did not appear excited at all during the planning stages... but just as many of you woderful ladies said they really did share in the excitment of the day... so to all you newbies here... will you become addicted? I resounding YES... will you spend many hours on here? YES... I have spent over a year on here and most of the best advivce I got was from here... so is it worth it? HELL YES.... HUGE HUGGS TO YOU ALL!!!

Venue

Fantasy Farm ...8 /10

FF was and only place we went to see after looking at hundreds online... once there we both fell in love with the place and decided on the spot that this was "it"... the grounds are beautiful... the food excellent... I gave them an 8 because the communcation could have been better...they are very stuck in their ways... BUT will always bend if needed.... if I had to base it on the day of I would give them a 10/10... Mark worked with us from the rehersal dinner until the end of our day... he was WONDERFUL and relaxed... if I had to do it all over again I would do it with FF... they made my day truly memorable... wuld I recommend them to anyone? For sure... they are very professional and afforable... however they are not for ladies that want to oversee EVERY detail and need to have alot of communcation... I am not saying that is a bad thing to want to do that... this is just not the place for you if it is.

DJ

Skip a Beat... 10 /10

Brad and his wife Nicole are warm and welcoming and fro our first meeting we got the sense that they really cared how our day went..... Brad was awesome and he goes above and beyond... I know another couple that used him and the groom was very sick with a flu... Brad put on a set and ran out to the drug store to get him to help him feel better so he might be able to enjoy his night more.... our dance floor was never empty... and he worked with all the wacky ideas we had and had fun doing it.... I would highly recommend him... we also went with the video that he does... it is a raw uncut video that you get at the end of the night... I love it... keep in mind that it is raw... I liked that it gave me an idea of how our guests seen our day.... I will treasure it for years to come.... Thanks Brad

Dress

Val's Bridal.. 10 /10

I had been our several times to look for a dress with no luck.... I was strssed right from the start.. I do not wear dresses and I am a plus sized woman.... I was visiting one of my MOH in Oshawa and she suggested that we go and take a look... we went in on a Sunday about 20 mins before closing... they welcomed us in and did not rush us... I tried on several dresses and had picked one.... however the last one I tried on was to get more of a feel for the size than anything... and it fit perfect... and my MOH started to cry... AND it was for sale right off the rack... a hard find for a dress my size... we were there for well over on hour... and I came out with a dress that wuld have cost me well over $1000... for $550... can you imagine how fast I said SOLD!!! LOL

Flowers

Loblaws... Dupont and Christie 100 /10

Lucy the manager was FANTASTIC she did a beautiful job on everything... and did not sell me anything I did not need... her input was great not to mention she is a copmplete sweetheart.... she managed to get us,,  all my girls and my boquete, FG. RB, GM, DH, 2 mom's, 2 Grandmother's 2 Dad's, pluse 2 large arrangments for the head table for $550

Cake

Jenifer Stewart Cake Design..... 100 / 10

Jen was wonderful to work with... I had a vision and she made it real.... she came to my house for a consultation... and came back a few weeks later with samples to try and her computer in hand so we could see what we wanted..... everything she makes is fresh... and she is VERY afforable... this pic does not really do it justice as it picks up the lights weird... EVERYONE made comments on how beautiful our cake was...

Hair and makeup

Luisa from Shear Heaven Spa....  100 / 10

I was booked with someone else right up to 2 weeks before my wedding... but due to unforseen issues my first girl could not do it... it was my choice as she was willing to do it but she had some health issues... so I was on the hunt and stressed with 2 weeks to go... Luisa was recommended to me from someone on another site... she did not hesitate to help me... and we went in blind beacuse I could not meet with her before my wedding.... no trial.... she showed up at the hotel and was such a sweet heart... and worked FAST she had us all done 7 of us by 2pm... hair and makeup in five hours.... I was impressed to say the least....

Photographer

Shawn McAlpine.... 100 / 10

I can not say enough about Shawn... all I have to say is that I used her after both my MOH used her one in 2005 and in 2006 and before that one of my MOH cousin's... she is a gem to work with and has a real eye for catching the moment.... she is very affordable... the only down side is that she does not do receptions.... she really goes above and beyond as well... when I got engaged she was my first call....

Centrepices

Loblaws

these were a great find... and very affordable.... DH parents paied for 1/2 of them... the great thing about loblaws is that things are always changing there and when new stuff comes in the older stuff goes at next to nothing... the first 10 of them we bought for $15... and then they went down to $7.50.... I really struggled with our centrepieces I had several ideas and I live over a dolarama so you can imagine.... LOL... I guess my point is you will know what you want when you see it...

we did alot of DIY projects here were some of my faves

these were for our table cameras,,, each one was diffirent... we spent a whole day doing them.. this was the out side

and the inside

One of my MOH mage the pillow

My DH made this for our candy Bufett... it is all candy!! I was so impressed he did a wonderful job

Officiant

All Seasons Weddings  100 / 10

This was another glitch in the road... orriginally a friend of mine was supose to marry us... however a few weeks before he found out that the Church he is attached too changed the way he had to qpply to preform a marriage... at that time we could not take the chance... so I turned to CB and lots of people recommened All Seasons... I checked out their site and picked Roger LaRade... he is attached to the Catholic Church and was able to bless our rings and give a Catholic feel to the ceremony.... he was very warm and just calm... he was a beautiful addition to our ceremony... we wrote our own vows and had a sand ceremony.... you can feel his geniune warmth... everything happens for a reason

another great find was part of the gifts for my girls... I had jewlery custom made for them that they loved... but I did not get a pic of.... this however I did put it all in this... the writing says "all you need is love" I found them at the bay...

well I think that I have covered most of the main stuff... if I have missed anything let me know.... thanks for looking and I hope it was helpful for anyone needing some insperation.... my biggest advice would be that no matter what your day will be what you make it... you can freak out over all the small stuff if you want... but what is that really worth? I had many issues along the way... but my day was ALL I could have EVER DREAMED OF AND SOOO MUCH MORE..... seconds before I was to walk down the asile the fire alarm went off and eld everything up... I was ready to cry at one point... when one of my sisters leaned in a d said..... hey you know what a fire alarm means? FIREMEN!!! who of course showed up... nothing was wrong something tripped in the kitchen.... but my guests have memories of 4 fire trucks showing up and hearing all the girls makeing cats calls... and us poseing with them... the firemen even stayed to watch the ceremony and the supervisor stayed and let us take pics with his van.... it will remain a memory for sure....

thanks for looking... and happy planning

Got hitched May 16th 2008 and it was perfect... :

I guess I should have added my HM review....  we had to book at the very last minute... meaning that we got married on Friday and went to the Travel Agent on Sat.. and left on Sunday... it was exciting in alot of ways... I had researched every place in the DR and had my heart set on the EdenH.... however it was not available..... we went for two weeks and our MOH and BM came down to join us for the second week.... we ended up going to the Melia Caribe Tropical in Punta Cana there were only 2 seats left for the next day and 4 seats for the day we were returning... so we took that as a sign and booked it... we did not go in blind however DH's brother had been there 2 times and his boss 8 TIMES!!! and they only had good things to say about it..... we got there late in the evening and even at night you could see how beautiful the grounds were... and it was huge... there was a train that took you around the resort but if you like to walk you could.... we were just steps away from the pool and the beach.... the food was great in all of the 9 a la cart restaurants.... and the buffet was awesome..... there is a casino on the grounds and a sports bar... the rooms were clean and roomy... we would go back again for sure..... we did a few excursions but by far was the Bavaro Runners... it was an all day trip that took us into the mountain where we were able to experience how the people of DR really live... we stopped at a school... it was an amazing experience... I would highly recommend...... here are a few pics enjoy and if you have any questions feel free to ask.... enjoy

This was our room

This is just outside of the room

One of the train stops

a typical home

Outside the main lobby of the resort

part the pool.. it is huge, clean and where I spent most days

one of the trains.. you can always catch a golf cart if needed

on the mountain having an authentic dominican lunch

thanks for looking... you will not be sorry if you pick this place... they also have Royal Service if you want to up grade...also if you travel with Transat you can up grade to first class at the airport for $80 extra... we did and it was worth it

Got hitched May 16th 2008 and it was perfect... :

Sarah and Shawn

08.01.09

Got hitched May 16th 2008 and it was perfect... :