@Lassie3 what an awful thing to have to deal with with the wedding days away! From what I hear, photo booth rental is quite expensive - I hope you can find a way to get compensated - maybe once the wedding is done.
Thanks for all the good thoughts about locating my mother’s handkerchief. Our planner said he would get in touch with the florist, but I e-mailed Sunday and called yesterday (assuming she might not have looked at work e-mail on Sunday) and she had not heard from him. She was wonderful and did track it down - hooray!
I’m now hoping the other glitch which I didn’t mention in Sunday’s post can be solved. The church records audio of pre-ceremony music and ceremony and the head wedding coordinator gave me the cd immediately after the ceremony. It was too big for my purse, so I put it, two wedding programs, and my purse on one of the reserved tables when I arrived at the reception. After I circulated a bit and went off to bustle D’s dress, I came back to reception room to find exH’s family had taken over the table and I later retrieved my purse so I could get phone for a few pics. I completely forgot the programs and the cd. The next morning I realized my error and texted planner to see if anyone gave it to him. He didn’t know anything about it and exH’s family said they saw it, but didn’t realize it was important. I’ve contacted church to see if they can burn another, but the organist didn’t know they even provided that service and the church secretary is looking into whether any audio was retained. I’ve also contacted the venue and they are contacting the staff who worked the event. I’m not so optimistic about this one at this point, but we’ll see. Originally, I thought this would be the one solved and not the handkerchief.
So, for those with events in the future, ask venue staff to put all programs, envelopes, etc. into a box that goes to family or planner as tables are cleared at end of event. That simple step would have meant I’m not on a treasure hunt three days after event.
I wish there was a editable sticky at the top of this thread with peoples names and the wedding dates! My daughter (marrying this November) just got the save-the-date graphic composed and now it’s time to send it off to the printer to make it into magnets! They also created a simple website with basic info including hotels. I was just going to bring up photo booths and am now a little stressed about it - and losing things the day of the wedding.
And my daughter’s wedding is officially four months from tomorrow. Yikes!!! Time is flying!!
My son’s wedding is 11 days away- July 9,2016 ! Surreal
@2VU0609 SO happy to read the handkerchief was found ! Sorry about the lost CD but it might turn up !
Appreciate your tips, too
I agree. There should be a post with the list of dates
Kind of like the annual acceptance thread? 
@Consolation - Yep. Just like that.
Two months from yesterday.
What’s the average tab for a bridesmaid dress these days? D is in sticker shock at $200 before alterations, shoes, bridal shower, etc. Bride is her best HS friend, so D is not going to explain to her that she can’t afford it and decline, but she will be seriously scrimping for the next six months on what she already thought was a tight budget. On the bright side, none of her college friends are likely to marry any time soon!
That price is not unusual in the Philadelphia area which is why my daughter chose a color scheme that would be usable for other occasions and then told her maid of honor and bridesmaids to buy any dress of that color that they liked for themselves and would wear generally for formal dress up. No one on her side of the wedding party will be wearing the same dress!
We are 4 months away from DS’s wedding, too! Thank goodness that I am not planning and organizing and serving as delivery person and event planner for this one, as I did for DD’s last year. It was fun (and stressful) but once is enough for me! This one is being handled by DS and Dfiancee, and they are organized types. :-). They are also fairly frugal and practical; case in point, the bridal dress was bought online and was marketed as a bridesmaid dress. Simple, elegant and beautiful. DS is going to wear a suit he already owns and just purchase a new, custom-made shirt. I am SO happy that both my kids are settled with really lovely partners. I know a lot can happen with relationships in life, but they seem to have the mindset and temperament to work at keeping a healthy relationship for the long term.
@yauponredux, $200 before alterations is really a pretty reasonable amount for a bridesmaids dress these days. D’s most expensive bridesmaids dress for a wedding she was in was $325 and she paid around $50 extra for alterations. Another girl in the wedding bought same chiffon dress and had to pay close to $200 for alterations in the Boston area. My D picked out a fabric and color from J.Crew late last year and then told her bridesmaids to get whichever dress they wanted in that line and suggested they order during Christmas promotion of 30% off everything. That meant they could get a dress in the neighborhood of $150-160. I think some of them will wear their dresses again based on what they picked.
D always appreciated it when shoes were left to whatever you want in a particular color, so she told her attendants to wear silver shoes of their choice. She also made it a more reasonable event by having bachelorette celebration in Nashville on Thursday night before wedding (all but groom’s sister had been in college there together, so that was fun for them and only required traveling one day early instead of separate trip) and by paying for their hair & make-up which was pretty much equal to the cost of their dresses. She had been grateful when her friends picked up the tab for that previously and saved her own money to fund this. Still, it’s often an expensive commitment to serve as a bridesmaid.
DD and DS did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen/will not have bridesmaids or groomsmen… It makes life simpler and it means that some friends aren’t in the “in” group and some in the “out” group. Who wants to rank friends? I am glad they decided on that. DD had DS read a poem during her ceremony, and that was beautiful.
My daughter also picked a J.Crew dress and has the girls buy during a 30% off sale. Each girl picked the style they liked best, and some might actually wear the dress again when a guest at another wedding as her dresses are short for an outside wedding in 65 days
A lot of my daughter’s friends and my DIL, use the Amsale dresses; these are a bit pricey in the long gowns. As my daughter is tall, she has always had to spend an extra $50 on her gown to add extra length. My daughter in law, and one of my daughter’s close friends were married two weeks apart and both selected the same dress. The color was different by two shades, so my daughter had to purchase two different dresses within a month 
Having lots of friends getting married and being in the wedding gets very expensive!
On another note, my daughter has her second dress fitting this weekend, and I am on the way to pick up her veil. This wedding is getting more real by the moment!
Enjoy the ride, @snowball
My daughter is in 2 weddings this year (was 3, but one bride decided to uninvited DD which disappointed daughter but is for the best as it would be a very expensive weekend ; I think the dress is in the $200 range plus airfare, hotel, etc.). The dress for the first wedding was ordered from someplace in India and cost $59 plus $10 shipping, but there was a coupon for $30 for first time orders, so cost me $40. It is plain blue cotton and not attractive on my daughter but the bride was dealing with several large girls so couldn’t pick anything too fitted or wild. It is unlikely my daughter will ever wear this dress again.
Dress for next wedding was also ordered online and was about $50. It is a beaded and fringed flapper style dress. Daughter will wear again IF the dress survives. Many of the comments online were that the dress is good for one wearing but loses a lot of fringe and beads during that one wearing.
I had a friend who was in wedding after weddiing. She had a group of about 8 friends who were all in each other’s weddings. One wedding she had to order a dress in a style of her choosing, but all dresses had to be from the ‘same dye lot’ so when her dress arrived too big, it basically had to be remade. It had a corsetted bodice, and the alterations were $200 on a $150 dress. Wedding was on Hilton Head island, and I think cost my friend over $1000 with travel and staying there.
D asked each of her attendants ( privately) what they could afford on a dress. Then we told the bridal store that we only wanted to see dresses that were under a certain dollar amount ( the lowest). That way there was no risk of the girls falling in love with a dress and one or more agreeing but not really being able to afford it.
D was completely open to differing styles/colors/long or short, but the girls choose long dresses in the same color and style.
Hmmm, D will be bridesmaid at niece’s wedding and is overjoyed. We have no idea how much the dress will be but will be happy to pay whatever it costs. I am delighted that the two of them have remained close over all the decades. D is very petite and likely a size 0 or 00 and looks good in pretty much anything. Her outfit will likely need alterations, but I don’t care. The wedding isn’t until next summer and we are all greatly looking forward to it. We aren’t sure who the other bridesmaids will be or what the bride will want them to wear. Fortunately, D is “only” a 8 hour drive or 1 hour flight away from the bride, so getting together will work out OK.
My two younger daughters are DD1’s bridesmaids. They are both still in college, so the bank of mom and dad is paying for both of them as well. Dresses cost $180, another $75 for alterations, then hair, makeup, helping with showers and bachelorette parties,