We got our bridesmaids a necklace to wear on the big day. I picked a design that is pretty basic - just a sterling silver pendant hanging on a silver chain - and all of the girls loved it. Not only did they get to all match on the big day, but all three girls have worn the necklace since then. If you don't want everyone to match, you can buy a slightly different necklace for each girl (three different silver pendants, for example - all silver so they "go" together, but all unique to fit each girl). For the boys, we bought flasks. Hey, they're a drinking crowd, so it fit.

In terms of photography, we paid $2400 dollars. This included 7 hours of shooting on the day of, a 3 hour engagement photo session, a proof album of all of our photos, a CD containing all of the high-resolution digital negatives, 250 dollars of credit toward buying an album or prints, and three months of web hosting of our photos so we could show our guests. That is high compared to other areas of the country...for the SF bay area, this was an EXTREMELY good deal (most photographer basic packages here do not include digital negs and cost around 2-3 thousand).

I can't really speak to the Photographer issue bc my SIL-to-be is a photographer and doing our shots, with a photographer friend of hers doing back up prints for free. We really lucked out! I think she may charge for the prints if her pro does them, but we are saving so much that way.

About the bridal gifts, I am debating. I think I am going to go to a beading shop in town and make a necklace or bracelet for each of my girls- personal and not too pricey. For the groomsmen, my fiance and I decided to help offset the cost of their suits as their main gift. We are asking them to purchase suits rather than rent tuxes, so this works well for our crowd.

I'm getting excited... only 37 days to go!

Oh! But I'm struggling about the favors. I will be in a different state, working, for the two weeks before the wedding. I had debated bamboo, but think it may be too labor-intensive with me out of town.

There is a place down the road from our wedding that makes Hickory Syrup- similar to maple syrup, but comes from the bark of a hickory tree. Would mini jugs of that make a good favor? I like that it's local, but is syrup a weird gift?

I agree - the syrup would be cute.

Our ceremony was in Berkeley, up in Tilden Park.

Hi girls
I'm getting married next year sometime. No actual date picked yet. Although it's going to be a very small wedding I'm hoping to get to my goal weight before then, 150 before Sep 2008. Hopefully thats realistic lol.
Good Luck to all of you!!

MissMess - we were at the Brazilian Room - it was so pretty. The pouring rain took away a little bit from the view, of course, but not too much, and we got some gorgeous pictures outside with a giant black umbrella.

Lisa - welcome!

Put my favorite umbrella pic up as my profile photo...

Wow! That picture is awesome, Mandalinn! What is the significance, if any, behind the scarf tied to your right forearm?

I think I've found my wedding dress (now to lose the weight). The Charlotte dress from Ann Taylor is the one I keep going back to, even though it means I'll have to really behave between now and the wedding. No more cake sampling, I guess!

MissMess- How many guests are you having? I have seen several wonderful ideas I would love to see someone use!

I completely gave up on DIY projects once our guest list went over 200! 300 of anything is more than I can sanely attempt! Unless, of course, we're talking desserts...

The scarf was just a wrap I'd picked up (at Ross, no less) when I realized it was going to be freezing cold and raining for my wedding. I had it wrapped over my shoulders but it fell when we were taking pictures. It was cold-prevention, nothing more. We also bought wraps for the bridesmaids at the last minute because their dresses were tea length and strapless and it was raining outside.

I did some DIY stuff...the lucky bamboo was obviously the worst of it, as well as the out of towner baskets (only OCD-bride would add a personalized note to each basket, lol) and bathroom baskets. Come to think of it, I did a lot of personalized stuff. Ah well. We only had 75 people, so it was feasible. 200 of anything would be so difficult!

Our guests were scattered over 4 hotels - we just figured out where everyone was staying and gave the baskets to the front desk. They pass them out when people check in, and hotels are very well used to doing this. So cute to add sunblock and beach mats! What a great idea!

Yeah. Actually, we had a wedding website where we had a form for people to put in their contact/hotel information. Its useful to know where people are staying in general in case you need to reach someone, and if there aren't too many different hotels to choose from (for example, if you negotiated a group rate with a preferred hotel or two) you can just drop a batch off at one or more hotels and be done with it. We put some little snackies in also. For hawaii, you could do a little baggie of chocolate covered macadamia nuts, maybe some dried tropical fruit...you get the idea. Our baskets had roasted almonds, chocolate covered pretzels, jelly beans, and chocolates, plus a tea strainer and a little tin of tea and bottled water. We also printed a little information leaflet for each of them (with our cell #s, how to catch our guest shuttle, airport/hotel phone information, etc). We saved money on the food items by buying cheap cello bags at a party/craft store and ribbons in our wedding colors, then buying the food items in bulk. It was a lot cheaper than buying individual-serving-size packages of the items, and makes the baskets really cute also because they match the wedding theme. We also put in tiny candles in our wedding colors (because I LOVE going to a hotel room late at night, lighting a candle, and hopping into a bathtub) and a tiny lavender grow kit to match our theme. We finished them off with a personalized card thanking people for coming.

I think snacks are great because after partying into the night, everyone wants a little something to eat.

Our out of town baskets looked like this:



We only gave them to our out-of-town guests. People who live in Hawaii have their own SPF and beach mats, its the people from out of town who don't have their home-comforts and will really appreciate the baskets anyway.

I haven't picked the exact style yet but we are doing large bags instead of baskets. You can order personalized bags from a company like 4imprint for less than $1/bag. For anything personalized, I have found my business suppliers to be much less expensive than "wedding" suppliers.

This is one idea:

http://www.4imprint.com/EXEC/DETAIL/...CA1062-L-F.htm

I would do clear bags with colored tissue paper.

We're doing all local stuff, too, but a bit more diverse. Locally roasted coffee, local handmade chocolates, specialty cheese and sausage (WI, baby!) and, of course, a bottle of wine- I imagine your wine might be a little better than ours... I'm also including area maps from our tourist bureau (free) and a travelogue written by area children (sales benefit an educational charity). I could keep going but the price is starting to rival the swag stars get at awards shows...

Another idea (that I will probably use for the bridesmaids, aunts, etc. because the bags were getting heavy) is items from The Enterprising Kitchen, a Chicago-area social enterprise that teaches disadvantaged women to make soap to help train them for jobs.

Mandalinn - Your gift baskets were lovely!

Haven’t given too much though to the out-of-towner favors yet, but you all have some great ideas here! We’ll definitely be putting together a fun guide of things to do and see around Madison. Almost everyone will be from out of town, so that will probably limit how extravagant and personalized we can make the goody bags.

Well, I’ve had a drop out in my bridesmaid party. My F-MIL made it sound like both her daughters (my FH’s sisters) would expect to be in the bridesmaid party. One of his sisters I am very friendly with and like her and her husband (who will be in the groomsman party) quite a lot. His other sister I’ve never been close to but never really had a reason to personal dislike her. Unfortunately the latter sister has decided that some long-brewing bad blood between her and her father makes her uncomfortable enough that she is not even committing to attending the wedding. I don’t know all the details (obviously), for all I know she’s got good reason to not even want to be in the same room with him. She’s gone to great lengths to avoid him in recent years and I don’t think they have much if any relationship any longer. I don’t suppose there’s anything I can do about it, but it would be very sad if she missed our wedding over this.

On the bright side I have asked a good long time friend from college if she’d like to be in my bridesmaid party and she has accepted. She’s already been working with me as a sort of floral “consultant” and it will be nice to have at least one member of the bridal party in town for things like gown shopping and such.

MisMess- What a fantastic dress dilemma to have! I haven't tried them on since my "Oh, My God! I look like the Michelin man!" experience.

Shan- sorry to hear about your future sister-in-law! I hope it all works out!

I have been considering centerpieces AGAIN. Which flowers, what shape vase, etc. I need a wedding planning vacation!

Missmess - I purchased my dress in a size 18W, at my wedding I was a size 10/12. They were able to take it in fine. It wasn't cheap, but including a design change (I redesigned the back of my dress to customize it) my alterations, from a specialist in gown reconstruction who was AMAZING and priced accordingly, cost $350.00. What was nice is that she specialized in redesigning heirloom dresses to fit new people or to redesign certain outdated elements, so she was really good at resizing things.

I can get you her name if you want. She is in Elk Grove.