RETIRED - The Official VS, Express, Beauty & more Thread

Love the beach! I think the games depends on what kind of games and if people are willing to play. Games are no fun if people don't like to play, and yep, depends on what crowd for sure!

That's the best with having our stash - easy to go through for gifts!

Yours sound like it would be nice and fun! House overlooking the lake? That's some view! And saves money! I'd imagine these things to be rather small, I can't imagine that with a larger crowd, especially for me, because with crowds, things get hard and people may not mesh.

I remember your invites from Visa Print! I'm still considering that idea as well, but I guess with DBF's people out in the midwest and in Seattle, it's harder to get addresses, or er, depends on laziness It IS nice to get invites. I guess I will just have to see what happens. I think I wanna go with registering online or confirmation online. Cause I want to have a mass list somewhere easy to reference and I'd probably have a list of rules. I've seen pictures of weddings where attendees were wearing WHITE dresses!!!! That is a HUGE NO! So crap like that I wanna make clear Probably have a bouncer at the door checking attire I also saw someone with a t-shirt dress. A dress that's just like a long maxi tee. Too casual. I really feel like attendees are becoming lax in what they're wearing...

srsly - i've heard about situations like that too. ridiculous! i don't mind if people wear red, but c'mon, everyone should know that white is reserved for the bride. but at least if someone does show up in white, they will be the one ridiculed, not me - so i'm not worrying myself with it very much. (and some people avoid wearing red when it's a chinese wedding bc that's also reserved for the bride - did you know that? i had no idea... luckily the 1 time i wore red they didn't use any red or wear a chipao or anything... phew!)

if you're going to have a small-ish guest list, it's really not too hard to track down rsvp's when the time comes. i've been doing things on excel and sharing it as a google doc so df and i can both manage the lists. it's been working pretty well. i've had to send reminders, and while we did send out rsvp cards with stamped envelopes i also put up a rsvp section on the website so people could do it there too. i've still had to text some friends to remind them, but at the end of the day it wasn't too many ppl that didn't respond on their own.

Probably have a bouncer at the door checking attire I also saw someone with a t-shirt dress. A dress that's just like a long maxi tee. Too casual. I really feel like attendees are becoming lax in what they're wearing...

Yep, yep, red is for the bride too. So that's another no no on my list. I was gonna wear a red dress to this past wedding, but I double checked with a few people and it turned out that it was going to be a Chinese wedding and banquet style so I went with another color. She didn't end up wearing a chipao, and I noticed no one else wore red Are you going to be wearing a chipao?

The most ridiculous pictures are those of the ones with the bride + person in a white long-ish dress. Really? Etiquette these days is sorely lacking.

Glad to hear you guys have a system that works I don't know what's gonna end up happening. I guess I'm a control freak and don't want things to not be picture perfect with attendees and such

i think you'll eventually ease up, once you get into the nitty gritty of planning. at some point you kind of just throw your hands up in the air and say 'it really doesn't matter'. that said, i completely understand wanting to dictate it all - i'm a control freak too. (i get stressed out easily tho, so DF has to talk me off the ledge often he has his work cut out for him) at the end of the day, you need to remember that it will be fine, even if some of these things happen. it's not the end of the world and you likely won't even know or care. you won't have time the day of to care about a guest wearing red or white.

no, i am not wearing a chipao. i may regret it at some point, but i refuse to wear one that's not red (i don't like it when i see girls in purple ones bc they used purple as their color) and i don't think red goes with eggplant very well. it also won't really fit the venue or anything. i can always go get some professional photos taken in a chipao if i regret it later! (i have some photos from 12 years ago in a chipao - i'll just have to be content with those! too bad i was about 10 pounds fatter then so the photos don't look that great)

I am definitely having someone (non-relative/friend) at the door to turn people away that are improperly dressed and people with no gifts. Hahaha. The guests at my ex-best friend's reception were dressed like they were going to a cookout. They were married in Nassau, but I think they wasted their mone having the reception at home. It was not done well. There were not enough gifts brought. They had just bought a house, so I would have had a housewarming instead. Saved the $$$$.

You're probably right I think because DBF and I are planning to spend quite a lot on pictures and photography and the videography and if I go back and look through them and see people in white or red...I guess I won't be too happy. I'm also going to do a thing where no one can use cameras at key moments so photographers get the best pictures. I don't need people pretending to be pros and getting in the hired photographer's way.

I don't want this happening [offbeatbride.com]. Plus, I've seen some photos where this ONE person was in the middle of ALL OF THE KEY MOMENTS. They are not a professional, but they were right up there taking up the damn room and being in front of all the sitting guests. No siree! So I'm going to put some sign likethis which the photographer I'm considering actually shared on her Facebook [offbeatbride.com]

The people I've heard who actually had this request at their ceremony said they loved it. So I guess it really depends on the couple.


Agreed! I'm going with a red envelope thing to help pay off the wedding. I figured most people would already have what they need by the time they married. Gifts = hoarding to me.

you should have!! i should have ordered more rerocks.

btw, i'm wearing your sweater in the wild orchid today. it's more hole-y than the other ones that i have. i like the color a lot tho. i think i realized what that 'orange-brown' color you saw in store was. i think that is the red!! when i went to my store the other day i saw the sweaters and marveled about how the colors looked so different online - that was when i realized that the red looked a bit orange-brown. i remember thinking the red was a lot less bright than shown in the online photo when i first saw it.

hope you're having a good time on vacay!

i will keep less than half of what i ordered that night... only because some of them i've tried on before. those i haven't, i'm keeping only one, and only because i ordered 2 sizes in that style.

it crossed my mind too that it is what they're calling red... so i looked at the pic online and thought "no way"

vacay is not going well for me. i am sick at least the kiddos are not. the sickness started with older boy, then baby, then me.

Did anyone else get an offer from Express to earn GC's by sharing opinions?

It's probably worth mentioning that I'm still paying for that move

Oh no! I do not wear the CL wireless bras. Only the push-up bras. The wireless ones are unlined as are the racerback. I cannot use unlined styles as an everyday bra.

: ( Oh no! Dang, I was really hoping that would be the answer for you. I hope you find something.

Yes, I'm one of the drivers- it's 4 hours away though so no quick escape there. It should be OK as there will only be 2 of the BM's there and we seem to practice a lot of self-control. The bride + sister are too immature to say anything to anyone's faces, so who knows maybe that will be the winning combo that keeps it together? : crazylaf:

i really despise flowers in non-flower colors. i think grey flowers are extremely ugly (and they look like death :vomit : ). i also do not like green or blue flowers, even though i love those colors. i guess i'm weird and conservative in that sense. it's okay - grey will just be less pronounced - i was having inner conflicts anyway, because the inside of the mansion we're using is dark wood (as in, even the walls are wood) which clashes with charcoal imo. :dontknow : it's really not a big deal. : )

i feel bad for friends having to pay to be in my wedding. i know they don't mind it, but i still feel bad about it. i'm lucky that the friends that are in our wedding are all not struggling for money, but one friend didn't make it to my bachelorette and i think it was mostly a money issue. i felt bad about that - i have a lot of friends that aren't local and they will be travelling just to be here for the wedding. it's sad that they won't be able to attend the other events. i even opted for a cheaper bachelorette by doing it in vegas - the flight isn't bad coming from LA, and clubbing was free. we didn't eat at pricey restaurants, and brought our own alcohol, so i hope it wasn't *too* much for friends to pay. i bought the girls' dresses and will be paying for hair/makeup because i would have felt bad if they had to pay for that AND the bachelorette and shower, considering how much people spend on these things. i know a friend who was in a wedding (very fancy one) where the bachelorette was in ny. they ended up spending 1k each on it. :faint :

nod: I don't think I would even invite my cousins or second cousins. And personally, of the cousins and Aunts I would invite, I don't care if the others get butt-hurt or jealous. I feel like the close friends will always be there. Just need to make the effort to keep the relationship good.

Oh, and I also HATE showers. I hate the stupid games, little prizes, and gossip. I hope I do not have to have a shower...

If it were a good friend of mine, I think I'd consider the following a little excessive, but just the cost of doing business. Since it's not... it's all excessive : lmao:
Current BM tab:
Dress $200 (will find out soon if I need alterations : vomit: )
Hotel $300 (we were REQUIRED to stay on site, even tho the next option was 0.5 miles away and half the price), since DH is in it too- that's $600 since we won't be splitting the bill with anyone, 1 bed per teeny room - not even an option. : rolleyes:
Bachy Party: $300
Travel: $150 in gas each trip (B-party, wedding)

The only wedding I was in, this was a huge issue. The bride decided on an out-of-town bachelorette party, but nothing elaborate or expensive. The maid of honor insisted on no moochers, even though I was willing to make up the difference for those who couldn't afford it. She is a very nice girl and all, but it kind of ticked me off because even though I make a respectable hourly wage, she makes in a week about what I make in about a month. A lot of girls close to the bride were unemployed and/or had serious health conditions and I thought it was not fair to exclude them when between the two of use we could have all the up-front costs covered easily. Everyone who ended up coming could pay, but I really hope I'll never have to deal with that again, way too stressful.

You know, I like those ideas. :lol : I think my ideal shower would be having a nice lunch at a nice restaurant maybe over looking the beach, some gift openings and that's it! Maybe afternoon tea. No games, none of that. This will probably save more money and time and headache : D

vacay is not going well for me. i am sick : ( at least the kiddos are not. the sickness started with older boy, then baby, then me.

i need to remember to stop trying clearance stuff. the only think i am keeping is that dress that you said had sticky material (it does). i like it regardless - it can be worn as a tunic top too imo. i like the pockets, and i don't have a lot of pink-toned stuff in my wardrobe.

...
Bummer, what did you order on clearance that you didn't like? I've returned a few clearance items. One was the ivory skirt that wasn't flattering. Another was the crazy fitting shirt, & the shorts that were too big. I've been thrilled with my other purchases. I ordered another dress today (Ruched Mesh Overlay Dress). If it ships, it will be the perfect dress to wear with the Two Lips shoes I hate but my DH loves. I told him I'd wear that outfit the evening we have dinner on our balcony, so I'll be staying in our cabin. If we go out after dinner, I'll be changing. It would be more of a for his eyes only kind of outfit.

Anyone have any Express online codes they could donate to me? :-D