Thanks for the advice and well wishes everyone! Scrappy_Tink- thank you so much for helping me out while you're on your trip!
So the drama continues, lol. We can't have any sort of gathering at our place because we live in a small apartment in a HUGE student housing complex. My sister still lives at home with our parents so that isn't an option either. My dad and Ryans' parents are all for having both sides of the family at the home reception and having it at a park but my mom won't even talk to me about the subject. So, for now, we aren't even going to think about a shower or home reception. TBH, I don't really care whether or not I have a shower (it was mom's request) and the home reception was something our extended families requested, since they aren't coming to the wedding, so it doesn't really matter to me if we have one or not. My mom is like this with everything, for example she didn't talk to me for months after I moved out because she was against it. She was against our engagement and wedding from the beginning, so I'm not surprised. She doesn't have anything against Ryan- she just doesn't want me getting married- EVER. When I told her Ryan proposed, she took a long pause, asked me if I said yes, and when I replied that I did, she paused again, and so 'oh,... ok then, if that's what you want'- no congratulations or excitement- NOTHING. Again, it was about what I expected.
Ryan and I are going to have dinner with his parents next weekend and see what they want to do about the home reception and I'm leaving my parents out of it. My mom always ruins a happy occasion- she even complained when I got into grad school as apparently I'm wasting my time and money. She's always a bring-down, so I'm not surprised nor upset at the situation anymore- unfortunately it's just to be expected. I think she's just unhappy with how her own life turned out and she takes it out on everyone else.
On a brighter note, Ryan's wedding shirt came in and it fits! It's a little big for him, but that's better than being too small! I wanted a pic of him in the whole outfit, but he has so far refused, lol- he hates trying on clothes.
We also bought luggage the other day. Kohl's was having a killer sale and I got a 7 piece set for 65% off! I never bought luggage before- we had always borrowed it from our parents, and it was really exciting buying our own!
Ryan's working 17 hours today, so I'm gunna look online for inspiration hair styles. My sister will be doing my hair for the wedding. She worked at Super Cuts for a few years and loves to do hair. She's an RN now, but she wants to quit, go to beauty school, and open her own shop. She's very talented and I think she should go for it, but she doesn't want to go against our mom, who of course is against the idea. Regardless, I know she'll do a great job. I want to keep the hairstyle very relaxed and simple so we can fix it relatively quickly for our Palo dinner and the Pirate Party.
I really want to do some Trash the Dress photos in the ocean after the wedding and I'm hoping Disney will allow it. I asked the
DCL wedding thread if Disney photogs will do this and it seems that they will. I'll have to check with Shanda just to be sure, but I'm not going to bother her with that kind of stuff so soon. We have plenty of time to figure it out. Depending on how trashed the dress gets, I may have to come up with something else to wear to Palo and the Pirate party. Or I'll just whip out the hairdryer to dry the dress, lol.
Thanks for reading along so far!!
I didn't want to get into all the ranting and raving in my pj, b/c I had so few followers, but this is the exact sort of crap she pulled at my 1st wedding (Which was a disaster) and my at home reception. I tried to cater to her needs to make her happy, but it just makes everyone else miserable. 
, everyone is entitled to their own! 
Just wanted to give you another thought! Also, something your mom might be more open to, is registering on the Disney Honeymoon site. That way, the shower gifts can be something you could really use (like going towards your Magic Kingdom shoot).
Maybe it is because we are not actually stepping foot on Bahamian soil???
