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I booked mexico a year or so ago, before the drug cartels and swine flu.. Hopefully we'll be alright.. Going to an all-inclusive private resort, so I don't expect many problems.. May even get upgrades. Either way its a beautiful place and somewhere I've never been. Mostly I'm just excited to have an actual vacation, my jobs been working me 56h/w since last november.
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Jun 29, 2009 13:07
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Just be careful about going to the Caribbean or Mexico during the fall because that is hurricane season. We went to an all inclusive in Mexico last September and we missed Hannah by a day and Ivan by hours (we actually saw the front edge of the storm from the plane) but luckily we missed it both times and our travel plans weren't disrupted.
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Jun 29, 2009 14:34
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JohnnyRnR posted:Hawkeye, I was going to send you a PM (but you don't have plat), but make sure that you're paying under the listed price on that website. $1,500 is ~$500 higher than that setting should be. I'll keep that in mind thanks. I was told I'd get a quote on it at the same time that i'd be able to demo it (if they have a demo one to send). If they try to do $1500, how much can you really haggle with folks, and how do you show stuff saying it should only be around $1000? Do you just find other vendors offering it for the same or do you bust out pricescope for the diamonds on the band and calculate the cost of gold etc. edit: got a phone call, they are able to send one to demo so that's good. He also said that "finished" the ring would be about $1200. I assume by that he means resizing/fitting in stone etc. Hawkeye fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Jun 29, 2009 |
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Jun 29, 2009 15:59
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Kiri koli posted:Speaking of money, any Chicagoland goons have recommendations (for or against) photographers/DJs? In particular, I've had a lot of friends get married here and be unhappy with their photographers, so I'm determined to find a good one that I can afford. I want to stay within $1000-1500. I have recommendations on both! We used Cage & Aquarium for our DJ, and they were great to work with. Our photographer was Matt Kuehl, he was also great, and very reasonable. No extra charge for a DVD burned with all the photos, which was one of our main criteria.
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Jun 29, 2009 16:41
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Hawkeye posted:...do you bust out pricescope for the diamonds on the band and calculate the cost of gold etc. That's not really how it works. The overwhelming cost in an engagement setting is the costs of having an artist concept a design and then the labor to produce the ring. Setting all those small stones takes quite a bit of time. Hawkeye posted:He also said that "finished" the ring would be about $1200. I assume by that he means resizing/fitting in stone etc. "Finished" means properly sized, stones set, and polished. Don't feel bad saying "Eh, I like it; but it just seems a bit expensive with what else I've seen. Could we do $1,000?"
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Jun 29, 2009 23:24
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ucmallory posted:I have two questions that I thought all of you with experience could help with. Firstly, we're thinking about doing a small cake (like two-three small tiers approx. the size of a plate) for us to cut, and then a sheet cake for everyone to eat. Has anyone had this work out well for them? Have you came across any cool designs? I'm thinking of something very modern and chique...no cake toppers or crazy designs. My husband and I did something similar. We bought a nice white 2 tiered cake from this cake place that we love. But it wouldn't be enough for all the guests, so I then found this small bakery that makes great cupcakes! I spent 2 months going down once a week during lunch before deciding to use her to make cupcakes for the wedding. It was much more affordable (about $80 for the guests cupcakes and ~$100 for our cake). Everyone at the reception loved them, it was a big hit. It was also really pretty because the cupcakes had little flowers on them, and they were placed all around the main cake.
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Jun 30, 2009 00:28
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Zealous Abattoir posted:You are talking about El Morro, and yes it is. Also, nowhere in the Caribbean is good for summer, the heatwaves are hard even for the locals. I recommend on coming on the fall or early spring, due to the weather, and because winter is tourist season in the Caribbean and anywhere you go will be more expensive. Really it depends on the latitude of the island, I think. While I've heard places like Cuba are hell even in October, the Eastern Caribbean can be much milder. Where I live it rarely gets up to 90 F, it's usually between 80-85 F. Fall isn't the best, since hurricane season continues through October and even November can still be pretty rainy. I'll put a plug for St. Lucia again, though. Inexpensive; beautiful; reefs, beaches and mountain; pretty much anything you could want in an island paradise. Low chance of hurricanes, but most importantly: Sea turtles!
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Jun 30, 2009 04:08
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melaneyelia posted:Really it depends on the latitude of the island, I think. While I've heard places like Cuba are hell even in October, the Eastern Caribbean can be much milder. Where I live it rarely gets up to 90 F, it's usually between 80-85 F. Fall isn't the best, since hurricane season continues through October and even November can still be pretty rainy. I threw that in there because Puerto Rico hasnt really experienced a Hurricaine in years. They always seem like their coming and the zig zag off somewhere else
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Jun 30, 2009 06:20
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Me and my girlfriend will be going to Seattle in about two months. She has always wanted to live there so I thought she should get a feel before we make any decisions on moving so we are going for about 5 days. She has hinted that the Space Needle would be a perfect proposal site. I've shot it down saying there is no way I could afford a ring AND the trip, I've told her I already have a plan for proposal in 2010, and have been basically throwing her off the trail. Obviously I am going to do it there though. I had a couple of questions. I was going to get us reservations at the restaurant on top of the Space Needle to make it a more special night. I'm going to tell her the only reason we should eat there is that they include the elevator ride up in the price when you make reservations and we might as well kill two birds with one stone since we may never get the chance to again, so she is not suspicious. Would it be better to ask in the restaurant or the observation deck? I was going to mess with her and just ask her while eating dinner and say "So is this where I propose?" and see what she says. (I know she will say yes to the question once I ask it) and if she says yes, then there, or just see what she says, and then do it. But I've never been to the Space Needle so I didn't know where would be a more appropriate place. So for those who have been could you tell me? Also, she has mentioned she wants an antique looking ring. I'm not quite sure the best place to look for one is. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm nervous about the whole thing in general, but pretty excited at the same time! Nklus fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Jun 30, 2009 |
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Jun 30, 2009 09:37
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Nklus posted:Would it be better to ask in the restaurant or the observation deck? My friend just got engaged at the needle a few weeks ago. It was originally planned to happen in the restaurant but their reservation fell through at the last moment and they ended up just going to the observation deck instead where he popped the question. She said she absolutely loved having it done there as the view was incredible and really added an extra little romantic touch to the whole thing. However, if you can get a seat near the windows (are all the seats window seats? I've never actually eaten there) in the restaurant then I guess you would get that same feeling. In the end I bet either would be just fine and very memorable.
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Jun 30, 2009 09:46
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Oh god, our weddding is 3 monthes away. Everything is planned except one thing...favours. We have been scouring the internet for that "perfect" favour but just can't seem to find it. Our wedding is in October so something Fallish would be decent, but everything just looks so cheesy and typical! Any help guys?
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Jun 30, 2009 15:08
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MarshallX posted:Oh god, our weddding is 3 monthes away. Everything is planned except one thing...favours. How about candied apples? Cider mix? Candy is always a winner, maybe in fall colors? Red yellow and brown M&Ms? Fall flowers or bulbs like mums?
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Jun 30, 2009 15:20
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MarshallX posted:Oh god, our weddding is 3 monthes away. Everything is planned except one thing...favours. You might consider flower bulbs. My friends used lily bulbs wrapped in paper, then in tulle, tied with a ribbon and a little card with their names and the wedding date. If I remember right, they bought bulbs in bulk and did all of the wrapping themselves. The best part is spring bulbs are planted in fall, so people could actually use them right away.
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Jun 30, 2009 15:21
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Gravitee posted:How about candied apples? Cider mix? Candy is always a winner, maybe in fall colors? Red yellow and brown M&Ms? Fall flowers or bulbs like mums? I think we talked about candy and just decided it wouldn't suffice... fine-tune posted:You might consider flower bulbs. My friends used lily bulbs wrapped in paper, then in tulle, tied with a ribbon and a little card with their names and the wedding date. If I remember right, they bought bulbs in bulk and did all of the wrapping themselves. The best part is spring bulbs are planted in fall, so people could actually use them right away. I actually like this idea alot! Maybe we can even pick up Lilies in the colors of our wedding (Orange).
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Jun 30, 2009 15:50
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Nklus posted:Me and my girlfriend will be going to Seattle in about two months. She has always wanted to live there so I thought she should get a feel before we make any decisions on moving so we are going for about 5 days. She has hinted that the Space Needle would be a perfect proposal site. I've shot it down saying there is no way I could afford a ring AND the trip, I've told her I already have a plan for proposal in 2010, and have been basically throwing her off the trail. Obviously I am going to do it there though. I've heard that the restaurant on the Needle is not very good and overpriced (compared to other restaurants in Seattle), but if you're not a foodie then I'm sure it'll be fine. Nexus-6 fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Jun 30, 2009 |
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Jun 30, 2009 18:22
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Yeah, I just looked over the menu and prices. I like new and interesting things, and shes a bit of a picky eater. Between the food not being good, so expensive, and her not liking it, I'll probably shoot for the observation deck then. Thank! Anyone have any advice on my second questions, regarding a good place to find antique looking rings?
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Jun 30, 2009 19:18
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Nklus posted:
http://www.newyorkestatejewelry.com/engagement-rings/3/1/all/all/cat
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Jun 30, 2009 19:52
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I've finally talked my mom into going gown shopping. (Way in advance. We're not actually going down the aisle until October 2010.) I'm trying to figure out where to go shopping. Anyone in the NY/Long Island area that has had good experiences? Anyone in Jersey? (That's where I'll eventually wind up shopping. It's just cheaper to shop in Jersey!) Has anyone gone to David's Bridal? I haven't really heard a single good thing about them, but I don't know if it's just the people that hated it doing all the talking...
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Jul 1, 2009 03:03
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Friendly Geek posted:Has anyone gone to David's Bridal? I haven't really heard a single good thing about them, but I don't know if it's just the people that hated it doing all the talking... Horrible. Awful dresses.
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Jul 1, 2009 04:52
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Friendly Geek posted:
Customer service is something terrible, but if you're trying to do things on the cheap, this is the place to go. I found a dress that I loved at Alfred Angelo (which is actually not too much more expensive than DB), but they wouldn't go low enough. Wedding dresses are a scam enough as it is, no need to pay $1000+ for a dress that you'll wear once
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Jul 1, 2009 04:56
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Eh, I just bought my dress at DB two days ago. The lady helping us was incredibly friendly and helpful, I got a dress that I love and looks great on me and got it for a ridiculously small amount of money. I am overall super happy with the experience, but your mileage may vary. If you are looking for a crazy couture dress it probably won't be the place for you. If you have the time it can't hurt to look. I was really dreading it but wedding dress shopping ended up being a ton of fun.
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Jul 1, 2009 06:42
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Kitten Kisses posted:Eh, I just bought my dress at DB two days ago. The lady helping us was incredibly friendly and helpful, I got a dress that I love and looks great on me and got it for a ridiculously small amount of money. I am overall super happy with the experience, but your mileage may vary. If you are looking for a crazy couture dress it probably won't be the place for you. I had the same experience as Kitten Kisses at DB. The first girl we talked to there couldn't care less about us as we came in to just look, but while we were leaving we stopped to ask her a question. She had just left and another woman was in her place. She gave us great advice and service, convinced us to come back the next day to try a few things I'd found on, and I left the next day with my perfect dress for a great price. It's worth at least a look at their catalogue to see if you like anything there.
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Jul 1, 2009 06:53
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Friendly Geek posted:Has anyone gone to David's Bridal? I haven't really heard a single good thing about them, but I don't know if it's just the people that hated it doing all the talking... I had a friend who worked at a bridal salon and they had 4 or 5 girls come in in crisis mode looking for a dress they needed in like 2 months because when David's Bridal did the alterations their dress got screwed up. Two of them had beaded bodices and when they shortened the skirt (which is done at the waist) they cut some of the beading threads and a bunch of the beading came off. AND they'd already purchased the dress so no money back because it was screwed up in altering it. However, I had a good friend who bought her dress there and had it altered by someone else and it was a beautiful dress that she got on sale for $400. Now, it might just have been that particular David's Bridal had a terrible alterations department and the one in your town might be fantastic, but be really careful to get someone who knows what they're doing to alter your dress, no matter where you go to buy it.
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Jul 1, 2009 20:41
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I've heard terrible things about David's Bridal and I'm suspicious of the quality of their dresses, so I'm going to try and avoid it. I've also been looking at dresses from China on Ebay though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I'm trying to work out the logistics of my wedding ceremony and reception. We decided to have both in the same place, which I'm very happy with except that there is no travel time for the guests during which we can take pictures. Everyone keeps telling us to just do it during cocktail hour, but I hate the idea of missing a whole hour of my reception. So, from a guest point of view, if you attended a wedding where the ceremony and reception are at the same location, how big of a time gap is reasonable? Half an hour, an hour? The guests are allowed into the building (ceremony is outside) early if we choose to go that way, but the open bar and food will begin with cocktail hour. Also, does anyone have any good ideas for a replacement to the part where the bride and groom walk out and everyone blows those obnoxious bubbles? I won't have a walk-out or a limo or anything, but I'm trying to think of something fun. We were considering handing out sparklers for people to wave around at the recessional, but something will probably get set on fire.
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Jul 2, 2009 01:44
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Kiri, I had my reception and ceremony at the same place and it was fantastic. We took 85% of our pictures before the ceremony. I didn't have to worry about redoing my hair or makeup because it was fresh. I did see my husband before the ceremony and I'm glad we did. I was so much more relaxed during picture taking and we weren't rushing to be somewhere. We did take more pictures after the ceremony, mostly family ones, but that still took 45 minutes and I was very organized. We had a cocktail hour between the ceremony and the start of dinner. I really don't think I missed much, besides the appetizers of course. From what I can tell, people just drank, ate and chatted. So many people said that they enjoyed the format because they were entertained and they didn't have to wait 3 hours between parts and ruin a whole evening. I always took into consideration the comfort of our guests. Why would I have a wedding that I wouldn't have fun at if I wasn't the bride?
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Jul 2, 2009 02:22
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Gravitee posted:Kiri, I had my reception and ceremony at the same place and it was fantastic. We took 85% of our pictures before the ceremony. I didn't have to worry about redoing my hair or makeup because it was fresh. I did see my husband before the ceremony and I'm glad we did. I was so much more relaxed during picture taking and we weren't rushing to be somewhere. We are already planning to take pictures before the ceremony as there is a beautiful Japanese Garden a short drive from our banquet hall. But that will be just us. All the other pictures will have to be done at the banquet hall, probably after the ceremony. I prefer weddings without a gap myself. I guess my mother just keeps telling me how weddings used to just go on all night until everyone passed out whereas nowadays you're lucky to find a place that offers a six hour block. I don't want the pictures to be rushed (45 minutes doesn't seem like very long), but I don't want to eat too much into my reception time either. Also, I'd prefer to get on with it, as far as dinner goes. I always feel like I'm waiting for the food during cocktail hour even if there are apps and then by the time cake-cutting and toasting is going on, I'm too hungry to pay attention. 
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Jul 2, 2009 02:56
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I have always liked the gown from Charlotte Balbier. http://www.charlottebalbier.com/ If I were not in the jewelry business I would open a boutique solely to sell their dresses.
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Jul 2, 2009 03:41
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I just found my first unexpected snag. Attempting to apply for our marriage license requires both of us to be at the registrar with a witness between 8:30 and 16:30 M-F just to apply. I guess I'll have to take a day off and hope I can find someone that isn't working that day.. Ugh.. Normally wouldn't be a huge deal, but with a honeymoon coming up, I'm kind of over-worked at work trying to get stuff done before I vanish for a week or 2.
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Jul 2, 2009 13:14
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Kiri koli posted:So, from a guest point of view, if you attended a wedding where the ceremony and reception are at the same location, how big of a time gap is reasonable? Half an hour, an hour? The guests are allowed into the building (ceremony is outside) early if we choose to go that way, but the open bar and food will begin with cocktail hour. Anytime I've gone to a wedding like this, the open bar and appetizers have started right away and the bride/groom just miss a little bit of it. I would not have people waiting around for an hour outside with nothing for them to do. My friend did her wedding photos right out where the reception was (because it was on a lake), which was nice because we all got to watch the photos being done and got to zoom in and take some candids of our own of the more formal shots... plus we had the food and open bar to enjoy. I'd just have cocktail hour begin when the ceremony ends so they have stuff to do. Kiri koli posted:Also, does anyone have any good ideas for a replacement to the part where the bride and groom walk out and everyone blows those obnoxious bubbles? I won't have a walk-out or a limo or anything, but I'm trying to think of something fun. We were considering handing out sparklers for people to wave around at the recessional, but something will probably get set on fire. I think the more traditional alternative is for you to get some rice thrown at you. You could do rose petals (or any kind of flower petals that match your color combo). Confetti, sparklers, also work. I wouldn't go the dove/butterfly route. Kiri koli posted:Also, I'd prefer to get on with it, as far as dinner goes. I always feel like I'm waiting for the food during cocktail hour even if there are apps and then by the time cake-cutting and toasting is going on, I'm too hungry to pay attention. I'm the opposite, normally I think wedding appetizers are pretty good and the actual meal is just so-so, plus I need something to tide me over through all the toasting and stuff, like you said - if I hadn't eaten anything at all, I'd be even hungrier. I just went to a wedding that was just open bar for cocktail hour and no food with it and you could tell people were a bit hungry and getting drunker than they should be (due to there be nothing else to do but drink + the no food in the stomach). We were all dying for the food to get there when dinner started. But if you're not into cocktail hour then just use that time to take your photos, and then leave a little bit of time for some mingling/thanking people. FidgetyRat posted:Attempting to apply for our marriage license requires both of us to be at the registrar with a witness between 8:30 and 16:30 M-F just to apply. Long lunch? KarmaCandy fucked around with this message at 14:03 on Jul 2, 2009 |
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Jul 2, 2009 13:58
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KarmaCandy posted:Long lunch? Would be nice, but I work over an hour away. I may be able to pull of a day working from home.
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Jul 2, 2009 14:20
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This post is just to vent frustration at learning how complicated diamond shopping is. I have so far went from 'oh, the jewelry store guy told me the color and clarity, nice' to 'well what are the depth%, table%, crown and pavilion angles' and now I am learning more about this hearts and arrows stuff, jesus christ this rabbit hole never ends
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Jul 3, 2009 02:17
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Hawkeye posted:This post is just to vent frustration at learning how complicated diamond shopping is. Buy her her birthstone. 
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Jul 3, 2009 02:45
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maso posted:Buy her her birthstone. What if she's born in April, like me. April = diamond, which means he's still up poo poo creek.
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Jul 3, 2009 03:14
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Hawkeye posted:This post is just to vent frustration at learning how complicated diamond shopping is. Yeah, I definitely feel you. The fact that a lot of the pricing seems so arbitrary, and that every retailer/vendor/jeweler offers a price "below retail" is frustrating. It would be nice to receive the straight-up lowest price they'll accept the profit margin for rather than having to play the "oh well I found such and such diamond at this retailer for this price" game. Edit: I realize this is unrealistic. superbelch fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Jul 3, 2009 |
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Jul 3, 2009 04:03
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Hawkeye, I feel your pain. It's what I do every day, and it's a serious pain. It's almost futile for two reasons - 1) Typical reports only list 50% of a diamond's total characteristics and 2) there are no real definitive standards for the absolute best make. A room full of diamond merchants can argue for hours over what makes the most beautiful diamond. Its amazing how specific you can get on a diamond. There are specialist Japanese gemology labs that issue multiple page reports for a single stone!
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Jul 3, 2009 07:23
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Hawkeye posted:This post is just to vent frustration at learning how complicated diamond shopping is. Let me give you a piece of advice for diamond shopping that I think is one of the more helpful. Take all the numbers you learn at pricescope - your star lengths, your crown angles, your hearts and arrows, etc - and just think of them as pieces of a very expensive puzzle. Are you buying a D IF stone? No, probably not, because it's rare and expensive, but more importantly, it's not necessary. You know that the diamond is still beautiful if it's got a little color showing from an H, or has that awkward feather in the girdle from the SI2. Likewise, if you spend all of your time searching for a perfectly cut diamond, it's a bit of a white whale; you'll never find one that's perfect and there will always be a flaw. You don't want to be at the point where you're saying 'Well gosh, this crown angle is 34.5 and the pavillion is 40.7 but this LOWER HALF IS ONLY 75%!!!!'. You'll drive yourself crazy and you'll get so involved with the numbers game that you won't even be considering a diamond anymore, just a math problem. At the end of the day, your girlfriend isn't going to give a poo poo if her table is a 56 or a 57, shes going to give a poo poo that she's getting married to you (That's the hope, anyway). So take all of the math and the science for what it is, a piece of a larger puzzle, and just relax and go with a diamond you think she'll like. That's why you're buying it.
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Jul 3, 2009 15:14
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I've been looking around at rings on and off for the past few months and I'm having trouble finding ones in the...style my girlfriend really likes. We looked together for a while and she loved the look of a lot of the rings from https://www.greenkarat.com but nothing else seemed to catch her eye. I showed her some stuff on Etsy, which she promptly shot down as "cheap costume stuff" as opposed to 'real' jewelry?  She claims to be all into the nontraditional wedding stuff, but then goes on and on about how this or that isn't a 'real' wedding ring... ugh. At the very least she doesn't like diamonds, so I lucked out there.While I do like the stuff on GreenKarat, is there anywhere else that caters more to that look for rings? I just like to have options, and most places I've found are simply WeddingRingSiteNumberXX.com with all the same stuff everyone else sells.
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Jul 3, 2009 15:54
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Rootbeer Baron posted:Good advice Those are some good points, thanks. So far, I think I have narrowed down some of the characteristics I will shoot for: g-h color vs2-si1 0.75-0.95 carat and by using those criteria, then use the holloway cut advisor on pricescope to make sure that the cut is at by their score around 1.4 or lower. By this and hopefully from images/reports online (i've noticed that good old gold, while having a lovely name, has what appears to be more data on their stones than bluenile/whiteflash) pick out a stone. Then, have the stone sent to an independant appraiser to ensure it is what it says it is. That's my plan, it seems logical to me but please let me know Thanks for all the help/support folks! Especially johnnyRnR.
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Jul 3, 2009 17:18
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dreggory posted:We looked together for a while and she loved the look of a lot of the rings from https://www.greenkarat.com but nothing else seemed to catch her eye. I showed her some stuff on Etsy, which she promptly shot down as "cheap costume stuff" as opposed to 'real' jewelry? Cheap Costume Stuff? Hoho, classy lady. Make her find her own drat ring if that's the case 
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Jul 3, 2009 17:57
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Hawkeye posted:Those are some good points, thanks. GoG has a stellar rep on pricescope. I'd recommend going with Winfield's or GoG, based on the customer service and the presence of those two vendors over the years I've been reading pricescope. Both seem to be very customer-driven and go the extra mile for their customers, whereas whiteflash and bluenile have occasionally run into problems with being too big to care, especially lately.
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Jul 3, 2009 19:26
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