If you go on a cruise some of the cruise lines have their own registries, and people can buy specific items, like champagne and strawberries for the room or an excursion or massages or just help pay the bill

3/9/2011 12:38:52 PM

^i have never heard of that. that is so freaking cool!

3/9/2011 1:08:57 PM

Since we're paying for the wedding ourselves and pretty much have everything we need, we were just going to ask for cash for wedding gifts. Our plan was just to use it for the honeymoon or save it to make improvements to the house or something. Not gift cards to specific places, CASH. That way we can spend it as we see fit.

Does that seem rude?

[Edited on March 9, 2011 at 1:27 PM. Reason : ,]

3/9/2011 1:25:08 PM

*i* dont think so at all.


but i am in no way the person to ask. im a big proponent for doing what you want

3/9/2011 1:27:36 PM

^^ i went to a friend's wedding a few years ago and they did that. they had everything they needed so instead they asked for cash since they were paying for the wedding and honeymoon themselves. it was actually really nice that they were upfront about what they wanted - it made it really easy for me. i just needed to stop at a ATM and get a card to stick the cash in

so no i don't think it's rude at all.

3/9/2011 1:36:42 PM

Not rude, but be careful that you make it very clear what upgrades/excursions you want (if that is available as part of the registry you choose) and that you can still afford the basic trip I'd people don't 'buy' off of that registry.

3/9/2011 2:22:44 PM

http://giftsatsea.com/ just like any other registry. you ask for want you want and then people pick what they want to get you from the list you made.


and asking for cash doesn't seem like a terrible idea at all. That's what I would want. It may make some people feel bad that can't give as much, though. That's the only downside I can see.

[Edited on March 9, 2011 at 2:26 PM. Reason : .]

3/9/2011 2:24:43 PM

Thats another reason we're thinking cash. Neither of us comes from a family with a lot of money. We'd rather they just give what they can (if they can at all, no big deal) then feel pressured to buy some gift from a registry which might be expensive anyway.

We also wanted to put up a donate link on our website so people can submit their gift payment that way. Simpler and safer than sending it by mail if they're not coming to the wedding.

3/9/2011 3:23:28 PM

If you know what you're doing for your honeymoon or where you'd like to go, many times the hotel will have a service where people can purchase a meal, outing, etc. for you to go on. Giving people the option of that rather than cold, hard cash seems like a good idea.

3/9/2011 3:26:11 PM

That's one nice thing about the honeymoon registry we have. Even though people are buying dinners/massages/whatever for the honeymoon, really we just get cut a check and can spend the money whichever way we see fit.

3/9/2011 6:22:12 PM

Can you do the honeymoon registry thing for a Norwegian Cruise Line cruise? I mean, I'm all about getting a Keurig and some good steak knives, but it would be cool to have excursions paid for.

3/9/2011 8:30:06 PM

Even if you can't do it directly with them, you could use any other honeymoon registry system to request excursion gifts.

3/9/2011 10:01:48 PM

just booked for our honeymoon in puerta plata, dominican republic

3/9/2011 11:30:49 PM

We're not even sure where/when we'll even do the honeymoon. There are too many factors to consider for us to plan something that far in advance. It's smarter for us to just wait until after the wedding to see where any money would best be used. For all we know we might not even do a honeymoon and just wait until whenever we can actually take a vacation and then call that our "honeymoon" even if its months later.

3/10/2011 1:31:07 AM

Quote :

"not even do a honeymoon and just wait until whenever we can actually take a vacation and then call that our "honeymoon" even if its months later"

thats what cody and i are planning on doing.


both of us really really wanna see a solar eclipse.
the next one is in austrailia 2012.
we're heavily debating on going then and calling it our honeymoon.
money and school permitting of course

3/10/2011 4:54:09 AM

we did a mini-moon (2 nights at Bald Head Island) following the wedding, and waited to do the honeymoon. The BIG plan was an eastern mediterranean cruise porting out of Venice the following year closer to our 1yr anniversary...but then I lost my job, so we canceled that and went to Key West instead (at the emd of Jan, so sooner than original planned HM) which was awesome

it gave us more time to save and really plan it out once the wedding was out of the way

I'm seeing 5 yr anniversary trip for that cruise to come to fruition

3/10/2011 6:58:53 AM

We're getting married in May and going on a honeymoon to Chicago in September.

3/10/2011 8:13:18 AM

i wanna go to chicago.

my friend just got back from there recently and said it was AWESOME.

3/10/2011 9:32:34 AM

3/10/2011 10:12:36 AM

^^That's where our engagement pictures were shot last weekend. We had a good time but it was FREEZING.

3/10/2011 12:14:25 PM

I'm looking for stuff on a rehearsal site. We want to do BBQ from Cooper's and beer/wine. All of my searches on the google are giving me rehearsal sites of restaurants (Second Empire, Cafe Luna), but we are looking for an empty place where we could bring our own food in. It looks like our group will be between 35-40 people.

I was considering doing something outdoors (wedding will be at the end of September), but we would be at the mercy of the weather (could be good or bad) and the only place I could really think of would be a park. I was told since most parks are government owned, you can't have alcohol. Any ideas?

3/10/2011 11:13:35 PM

You could try a museum. I know when my mom was looking into locations for our rehearsal dinner she looked at the NC museum of art. For them to do the catering they were rather expensive, but maybe they wouldnt be too bad if you just used them as a location?

3/11/2011 6:27:19 AM

Museums are $texas to rent and have a list of approved caterers. Best bet if you want to be able to bring in your own food is park, community center, church, or private residence.

3/11/2011 9:01:50 AM

There are a few really cute state parks in Wake County- some on various lakes. There are tons of octagonal houses or old historic buildings overlooking water that may be quite nice Check out Umstead and places like that? Do remember that bugs in the summer can be a factor....did you want to do it outside?

3/11/2011 6:08:39 PM

Yeah, we were looking at museums for the reception, and I saw most had a vendor list. I guess I was looking into more of a community center, but just didn't know of any that were relatively close to downtown area.

Another option (not close) I was considering is Aviator brewery, who just open up a smokehouse in Fuquay. I might have to take a trip out there and see what its all about.

3/11/2011 6:24:50 PM

http://www.hollyspringsnc.us/dept/park/basslake/index.asp

thank me later

3/11/2011 6:25:32 PM

Bass Lake is a beautiful venue

3/11/2011 8:00:53 PM

it really is...we thought about having our wedding there, but it wouldn't hold everyone

3/11/2011 9:27:14 PM

i started making some of my cupcake stands today



candle holders + epoxy + goodwill china

3/12/2011 9:57:37 PM

gotta admit, they look pretty damn good.

3/12/2011 10:08:00 PM

Sweeeeeeeeeet! What an awesome idea! Take photos when you flip em over please

3/12/2011 10:12:24 PM

yes ma'am! thanks

ive already flipped a couple over before they were ready

this whole patience thing is new to me

3/12/2011 10:19:42 PM

Joie where are you getting your cupcakes from?

3/13/2011 9:37:14 AM

sweet memories in apex

3/13/2011 10:18:31 AM

Nice! Us too, which ones are you getting?

We got the lemon and raspberry (I'm not too crazy about this one, I don't like lemon or raspberry... but it still tasted good), the chocolate mouse and the cannoli cream (This one was amazing).

3/13/2011 11:19:53 AM

we havent gone for our tasting yet! those sound AWESOME (im mentally noting cannoli! ahah)
we finalized a coupled things with them on friday and i think we'll go back in in a month...i shall let you know then

whens your date?

every time we go talk to them they let us leave with a couple of cupcakes (i get excited anytime we go ahaha).
this past time i got boston creme pie OH MY GOOOOD!

but yeah, that place has some of the best cupcakes ive had so far!

3/13/2011 12:39:14 PM

Had an awesome e-pic session with Thad and Sarah this weekend...



...and Thad's dad had all these vintage jars that we're going to use for centerpieces. Two birds with one stone.

3/13/2011 6:42:54 PM

Joie when you go back make sure you pick me up a cannoli one lol.. that sounds VERY good!

Also, ladies I'm going to need some help. I'm a bridesmaid in a September Nashville wedding.

Any good sites for bridesmaids dresses? She's not into short dresses.

3/13/2011 7:25:37 PM

^^ pic got kaboshed.

http://twitpic.com/48zcxd



[Edited on March 13, 2011 at 7:31 PM. Reason : h]

3/13/2011 7:30:00 PM

^^ do you get to pick it yourself and it just has to be a certain color?

i really like the tart infinity dresses for a longer dress. there is a "short" length but it still hits at the knee or below like this (dunno if that counts as too short!!):



but they make a long maxi version like this:










[Edited on March 13, 2011 at 7:54 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on March 13, 2011 at 7:54 PM. Reason : .]

3/13/2011 7:51:54 PM

We're planning a bunch of stuff together and we're picking one dress for all the bridesmaids to wear

after talking to her again the requirements are purple & floor length

3/13/2011 8:07:37 PM

joie, i saw your cupcake stands before i fell asleep last night and i had a dream about them! hhaha

they were baller in the dream!

3/13/2011 8:35:05 PM

^^ I really like the dresses at Dessy.

3/13/2011 9:11:25 PM

MovieGuru23 - try River Ridge Golf Club in Raleigh... it doesn't look a ton like your typical country club, and they have an outdoor pavilion (with a rain plan)... you can also you have any caterer you want


we had our engagement pic session today 4 1/2 hours.. I am le tired

3/13/2011 9:40:53 PM

I proposed to my girlfriend in January at Biltmore. Since then, we've been on a roll getting everything lined up for our December wedding in Charlotte, NC.

Wedding Ceremony: Design Center Atrium
Reception: Byron's South End
Photographer: The Beautiful Mess
Cake: by Cake Lady Jill
Flowers: Lilly Greenthumb's
DJ: All the Right Grooves

Still have some random stuff to do, but I think we're off to a decent start with 9 months to go! Anyone used any of these folks before? Suggestions?

3/14/2011 8:14:48 AM

Joie - Our date is July 30th.

And as for the cannoli cupcakes, they really are amazing. We are actually getting them to make a smaller top cake for us that has that filling. I would highly recommend that one. I didn't get to try the boston cream pie though, that sounds good.

3/14/2011 11:46:47 AM

^^ we are using the catering company from Byron's, they're awesome. Some friends had Beautiful Mess do their pictures and they turned out good. Don't know your other vendors but will check with the fiance. Did you use a planner?

3/14/2011 12:31:53 PM

^No, we're planning this all ourselves.

I forgot to add that we're using the Byron's caterers as well. We had heard that they were great, so thanks for confirming that!

[Edited on March 14, 2011 at 12:35 PM. Reason : .]

3/14/2011 12:34:46 PM

aha oh gosh. ours in june 11 and we havent gotten that far yet


YAY bobby light-ps i'm secretly jealous of winter weddings. i freaking LOVE them!

3/14/2011 9:12:01 PM

Thad and Sarah did an awesome job, as we knew they would.



Cool stop motion thing we tried out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kLVa8j0dGmU

More pics on their blog.

http://2and3photography.com/blog/archives/2557

3/15/2011 7:51:58 PM