9/24/09 3 Day Wonder - Cruise Meets, and FEs, and Goombays oh my!

[Dr.Girlfriend]

565 PEOPLE?!?! I can't even begin to imagine just how much that must have cost! Whooo! Love all of the dresses!! Since ya'll are sharing full party pics, here's one of all of us:

And yes, the church felt my dress was too revealing (as were my ladies in the bridal party). The church specifically asked what the outfits looked like months in advance and I didn't tell them because I didn't know for awhile. They're big fans of covering up shoulders and all of that. Blah! I loved my dress. It had a red lace up corset in the back. Hehe, this was the church where we had to take classes before we were "allowed" to get married, and one full class was designed to teach couples how to "do it". There is nothing more disturbing that to have a 65 year old woman tell you how to get busy on a bathroom floor.

Okay, ladies...I need help! I'm trying to lose 15 more pounds before the cruise. I gained 54 pounds while pregnant with my son and I lost that along with an additional 10 pounds of weight after the fact. I'm sitting at 205 and want to be back down to my wedding weight of 190. The PROBLEM is...I love to eat. I eat a lot during the day, and it's not necessarily good food. Today is donut day at work and there are mounds of donuts in all flavors in there... I try not to eat after 7 p.m., but I can't always help it.

I have this dress that I want to wear, and it fits now...but it's kind of tight. I know losing the 15 pounds would help a lot.

So...I NEED HELP! Motivation! Ideas!

 

[karentan]

There is nothing more disturbing that to have a 65 year old woman tell you how to get busy on a bathroom floor.

i have nothing to say at the mo except from

 

[karentan]

i was on a diet up until about a month ago, i was on it for 3 months, lost about 20 pounds, but then i fell off the wagon and put about 5/6 back on. i think i've kinda assigned myself to the fact that i'll never be skinny, i'm about 185 at the mo, and would ideally like to lose about 10-15 pounds but i know that my head isnt in it at the mo, so its pointless me trying to diet when my head isnt in it.
on a side note, you look amazing in your wedding photos steph, there's no way you look 190 pounds in that photo. you carry it very well. me on the other hand, not so much, lol, but i've learnt to live with being pooh sized!

 

[karentan]

just noticed my ticker and its officially 2 months exactly til cruising time!! with any luck, in exactly 2 months we'll be in parrot cay having lunch, or up on deck 9, having just had lunch!

and i've now officially started on my main FE gift! i've had the stuff for a while but not actually put it together, but i've done 3, at the mo (present FE list) there's 4 to go. but i've run out of the bits i need to put it together!

 

[jenny105]

Steph, you definitely do NOT look 190 in your wedding photo! You look itty bitty! I try to keep myself working out but I love the junk food...mainly french fries. I try to stay away from a lot of fast food but it's hard because I've been so busy at work and that's all we have around here! I don't necessarily want to lose weight...just tone up a bit and be healthier overall. Have you tried cutting soda out of your diet? That helps drop weight fairly quick.

I think I'm going to do lunch at the buffet on deck 9. I forget what it's called lol. That's become a sort of a cruise ritual for Joe and I. Get up to the top deck, eat, have a beer, and then tour the rest of the ship until it's lifejacket drill time!

 

[jenny105]

Is everyone making an FE gift? I couldn't think of anything to make. Call me un-crafty lol. I'm buying little things and some candy to put in everyone's FE.

 

[Lilo's Mom]

When Kelly's Dad, Pat, and I got married, we chose St. Patrick's Day because his grandparents and my grandparents both were married on St. Patrick's Day...so we thought it was kind of neat if we did too.

We invited 600 people to our wedding (we got 565..there was a blizzard the day we got married), the list was his large Irish Catholic Family, my large Irish Catholic Family, the people he worked with & his friends, the people I worked with & my friends, his mother's friends, the people my father worked with and my mom's friends. We sat down to cut the list because it was so huge, then my parents who had been saving for my college tuition/wedding since the day I was born decided they could swing 600 people at the reception. I paid for everything else, except the flowers and extra bar bill, Pat paid for that. Also, don't forget these was 1984 dollars...the reception which was Open Bar for 6 hours (premium brands), dinner (Served Family Style, Cream of Broccoli Soup, a Tossed Salad. Entrees were Roast Beef, Chicken and Stuffing, Mostacolli & Sausage, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, and String Beans. Then we had Mint Chocolate Chip Sundaes...because we needed something green.)...the total bill for the hall was around $13,000.

Things I Paid For:
My Dress/Veil/Shoes
Invitations
Cake
Photographer
Flowers
Attendant Gifts
Band

Things Pat Paid For:
Hotel Rooms for Attendants
Brunch the next day for Attendants
Extra money for the band to not play any Polkas
Rental of 4 Towncars
600 Green Carnations for Wedding Guests (to wear)


As for knowing the people...you are right, I did not know them all. What we did was Pat and I went around the room and visited all the tables that had people we knew...then he went with his Mom and visited her friends, and I went with my parents and visited their friends and co-workers. Also since there were so many people and it was St. Patrick's Day, we got married at 3:00, it was a full mass, so it was over at 4:30. We started the reception at 6:00, but there was a party going on at the hotel that our guests were staying at before the reception started. Officially what my parents paid for ended at Midnight...Pat paid for the bar and the band to pay until 2am. It was a really long day! The next morning we went back to the hall and had brunch with the wedding party and our parents....then we went to the airport for our 3 week long honeymoon.

I really loved my dress, it was $800 ...you can't see it in the pictures, but it has pearls all over it, and my headpiece was a juliet cap that had pearls and crystals...and pearls were all over the veil too. I wanted to wear my mom's dress...put it had yellowed and they couldn't restore it. It was satin and had crystals on it. The picture is so old and torn...but I love how young they look! My mom was 19 and my dad was 24

 

[karentan]

i'm making one of mine, and its not that crafty. i'm not the most creative of people so i think what i've done is actually quite good for me!!
candy is always good though, i love all the different candy you guys get over there, i think i'm going to try and get some UK candy that you cant get over there, i'd love to bring you some uk chocolate over (it tastes so much different than american chocolate) but theres no way i could keep it from melting in the 12 days before the cruise! so its non choc stuff i'm afraid.
i've got about 5 or 6 small gifts in my FE bags, and there's going to be some candy in there too, the bags i bought are a bit too big though so they kinda look a bit on the empty side

i think we'll head towards parrot cay, thats what we did last time and it was nice having a sit down lunch, i've heard that beach blanket buffet can get a bit crowded and hard to find somewhere to sit.

i drink sooooo much soda, but its diet soda so dont think that counts? although my big downfall diet-wise is baileys and chocolate.

but its banana dance time....... i've just paid by balance off for the holiday!!! the only thing major things that are left to pay is the car hire, and the dining plan for when we're staying at the AKL, but both of those arent payable til we get there. i still have to pay for MNSSHP and divequest, and a few more little things, but thats the majority of it all paid off!!!

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

I think our final count at our wedding was 120. And I didn't know all of them...HAHA. You're probably thankful there was a blizzard that day, right?

Yes, I was 190 in those pics...but I'm really tall (6ft1"). My husband is 6ft5". I am really wanting to get back down to that weight! Right now, I look like I have huge saddle bags hanging off of my butt and a pouchy baby belly (I have a 9 month old son and an 8 year old daughter).

The church that we were married in required you to have these pre-marital classes, and the very last one was all about how to do it. They even gave us books with pictures and detailed descriptions on how to take each other's clothes off after the wedding and reception. The worst part was, at that time I had a 4 year old from a previous marriage, so I OBVIOUSLY knew how everything worked anyways. I was looked down upon for that, too.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

And Karen...woot, woot for paying off your holiday!

 

[Lilo's Mom]

Almost forgot...Karen your FE is in the mail...they tell me it should be anywhere from 4 -10 days.

We have one thing in our FE gifts that was crafty (that will be in the bag on the second day) The rest was stuff I bought.

All this wedding stuff was kind of fun...we should do our baby pictures next!

 

[karentan]

Extra money for the band to not play any Polkas

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

Is everyone making an FE gift? I couldn't think of anything to make. Call me un-crafty lol. I'm buying little things and some candy to put in everyone's FE.

I think I'm going to do this, just have to figure out what to make. I make a lot of decorations for the kid's rooms so I have a little bit of craftiness in my background. I'll have to find the pics from my son's room tonight...I made his name letters and pictures that are hanging up in his room.

We're going to eat a PC this time around. We've always had a hard time trying to balance our stuff and fight the crowds at BBB, so we thought we'd give PC a whirl.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

Steph, you definitely do NOT look 190 in your wedding photo! You look itty bitty! I try to keep myself working out but I love the junk food...mainly french fries. I try to stay away from a lot of fast food but it's hard because I've been so busy at work and that's all we have around here! I don't necessarily want to lose weight...just tone up a bit and be healthier overall. Have you tried cutting soda out of your diet? That helps drop weight fairly quick.

I think I'm going to do lunch at the buffet on deck 9. I forget what it's called lol. That's become a sort of a cruise ritual for Joe and I. Get up to the top deck, eat, have a beer, and then tour the rest of the ship until it's lifejacket drill time!

I'm not a big soda drinker, but I'll be honest...my biggest fault is grande iced coffees with milk, sweetened from Starbucks.

 

[karentan]

havent got any kids yet!!! but do furry kids count?
here's cerby (my little 3 toed baby poor thing!)

donna, thanks again for the FE, i'll be sure to let you know when it shows up

i must be the odd one out, my guest list was everyone in the photo i posted. grand total including us of 9! we both decided we didnt want the big wedding as we wouldnt end up knowing half of the people who came. plus our DFTW was in the time when the escape packages could only include 8 guests without them charging you extra

 

[karentan]

steph, are you in for the FE then? yay for more people!! its great fun!!
if you are in, i'll post the updated list again for everyone

 

[jenny105]

I could never get away with having 9 people at my wedding. If Joe and I got married, he has 3 brothers plus their girlfriends/wives would go so that's 6 people from his side alone already! He's Italian and has a HUGE family!

I think diet soda is actually worse for you than regular soda! There may be less calories but there is more sweetener. I am not a soda person in general really...unless it's mixed with liquor!

Congrats for paying off your trip!

 

[Lilo's Mom]

I think our final count at our wedding was 120. And I didn't know all of them...HAHA. You're probably thankful there was a blizzard that day, right?

Yes, I was 190 in those pics...but I'm really tall (6ft1"). My husband is 6ft5". I am really wanting to get back down to that weight! Right now, I look like I have huge saddle bags hanging off of my butt and a pouchy baby belly (I have a 9 month old son and an 8 year old daughter).

The church that we were married in required you to have these pre-marital classes, and the very last one was all about how to do it. They even gave us books with pictures and detailed descriptions on how to take each other's clothes off after the wedding and reception. The worst part was, at that time I had a 4 year old from a previous marriage, so I OBVIOUSLY knew how everything worked anyways. I was looked down upon for that, too.

I was kind of glad that some of the people didn't show up! It was a great party. Even though Pat and I have been divorced for 6 years, people still talk about the reception.

What kind of church did you get married at? Pat and I had to do 4 works of marriage classes to before we could get married in our Catholic Church. At the last class the Priest asked us if we would be using birth control...Pat said yes. I thought here it comes they are not going to let us get married..cuz birth control is a big "no no". The Priest said, "I think it is smart for young people to really get to know each other before they start a family" I was shocked. Not as shocked as 6 months later when the priest left the church, got married and became a travel agent.

When Bob and I got married, there wasn't really a class we had to go to but the minister wanted to talk to us to make sure we were ready to get married. It was really a very nice visit...and it turned out that the minister's son is a famous comic book artist named Alex Ross who does Marvel Comics..he even made his dad a character in a series called Kingdom Come.
So we got married by a Minster that was Comic Book Character!

 

[karentan]

oh my god, the weather has just got so bad! The clouds looked like they were about to form a twister. We've just had a really bad lightning storm and the power has gone out. Luckily I'd just finished cooking dinner when it went! We had really bad hailstones too. Luckily my mobile internet is still working

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

Karen, you live in the UK, right? I didn't know you guys had thunderstorms. My Aunt and Uncle come over from Warrington all the time and they REALLY don't like our thunderstorms here, for sure!

Sure, sign me up for FE exchange! How many things do I need to make? And I guess I have to make one of those extenders as well, right?