<p>My wife bought her dress at Filene’s Basement (famous for their annual Running of the Brides sale) and did the alterations - though she might have had some help. I think that she paid under a hundred for it.</p>
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<p>I’ve never heard of doing this. Is this a tradition in certain areas? I certainly would NOT want my future DIL to pick out my dress. I have a heck of a time finding clothes that fit right on my difficult to dress body; what looks good in a magazine might be terribly unflattering on me.</p>
<p>I posted that ^^. Nah, I don’t think it’s customary anywhere. I was remembering some MOG dressing threads. They’ve been together 4.5 years, she has good taste, I want it to be their day, not mine, the thought of picking out a MOG dress probably thrills her (she’s a shopper), it horrifies me (I’m not!), and she has enough family she’ll get trouble somewhere. I want my part in this to be easy. As long as she covers my cleavage and I don’t feel naked; we’ll be good to go :)</p>
<p>I’m one of the people who think a timely thank you note is necessary; not an option. I think it’s horrible how so many people today can’t take the time to write a couple of lines thanking people who took time off and spent money to attend a graduation, wedding, etc.</p>
<p>Lol. </p>
<p>I’m terrified to find a dress. I have a few people that are willing to make me a dress. I know more or less what I want. I had a beautiful simple white gown with a tiny train for my debutante ball and I absolutely loved the dress. I want something just like it with perhaps just a few modifications. </p>
<p>Shopping is going to be the worst part of planning a wedding. I hate shopping. My mom’s not a big shopper. My boyfriend’s mom hates shopping. I feel like mine is going to be a VERY simple wedding for the mere fact that none of us will WANT to plan anything extravagant lol.</p>
<p>ETA: Something like this <a href=“http://img.fewdress.com/images/wedding/sexy_V-neck_floor_length_white_pregnant_wedding_dress.jpg[/url]”>http://img.fewdress.com/images/wedding/sexy_V-neck_floor_length_white_pregnant_wedding_dress.jpg</a> is what I want. Something incredibly simple and flowy. Not puffy or lacy or anything. Probably not that revealing as I’m not that chesty and it’s too low in the back, but I think you get the idea :)</p>
![http://img.fewdress.com/images/wedding/sexy_V-neck_floor_length_white_pregnant_wedding_dress.jpg[/url]](http://img.fewdress.com/images/wedding/sexy_V-neck_floor_length_white_pregnant_wedding_dress.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>That dress is lovely & I’m sure you could find/buy/have made one very similar.</p>
<p>Bought a cheapo wedding dress that cost under $200, I think, WITH alterations (but looked lovely & was very light and cool for my hot summer wedding). My sister loaned me her veil & we had friends decorate the church with donated flowers. More donated flowers were used for the bridal party. We did spend A LOT on food for the reception; wedding night hotel suite thrown in by hotel where reception was held. Used family cars to transport the wedding party. Hired family friend as photographer.</p>
<p>The rehearsal dinner was low key and relatively inexpensive. Honeymoon was pretty reasonable as several of the locations we stayed at friend’s homes & we got an amazing deal on flight to NY to start off. Exchange rate with Canada was great at the time. On the way home from our honeymoon, we stayed with my GF & I was her maid-of-honor, so didn’t have to buy another plane ticket to attend the wedding.</p>
<p>My B & SIL wrote their thank you notes for the wedding on their honeymoon! It was received within one or two weeks after the wedding! We were happy to have gotten them out within 60 days after the wedding.</p>
<p>We had friends whose kids went on a long roadtrip across the US for their honeymoon. They did a lot of camping & staying with friends & family, so costs remained pretty low (except for gas). They had a great time!</p>
<p>I have three weddings coming up and I’m very excited! Unfortunately, just H and I are invited to the first two, but all 5 of us to the third. </p>
<p>The third is on a Friday in September so D1 and D2 won’t be able to go… The first is on a Tuesday next month, and it’s far away. H can’t go and all three D’s are pestering me to take his place. I’m thinking that maybe I should go alone, or not go at all…</p>
<p>The second one is in a city nearby, and we’ll all go and be tourists but just H and I will go to the wedding. There will be trouble. FOG is a bit crazy (my Uncle) and his wife (groom’s stepmom) is worse. Groom doesn’t want to invite stepmom but wants dad to come. World War III is coming! Me and one cousin are the only ones from crazy Uncle’s family invited and I’ll probably win the Nobel Peace Prize if we come through it alive. </p>
<p>Damn, and I’m really looking forward to it! Most of it.</p>
<p>I have made the veils for three nieces. It is fun, easy, and a great way to save some $$$$. Two of the three wanted crystals and I hand glued hundreds of them on, one by one. There is a fabric district in Philadelphia and the guy where I bought the supplies walked me through exactly what I needed to do.</p>
<p>Excellent, what a lovely gift!</p>
<p>Re: Thank you notes. We went to a wedding recently. We received a thank you card: the bride and groom holding up a card that said, “Thanks a bunch!”</p>
<p>…that’s all folks!</p>
<p>Several years back, I went to 3 weddings in the space of 6 months and didn’t get a single thank-you note. These were all lovely, thoughtful, educated young women (notice how the onus of thanks always falls on the bride?). It set up cognitive dissonance for me: My mother’s voice: “Brides who don’t send a prompt thank-you are ill-bred, socially illiterate, and one notch above trailer trash” versus my personal experience of these women: “These brides are considerate, socially aware, and smart.” Maybe it just isn’t automatically on a bride’s radar like it used to be. But I decided to disregard my mother’s voice, rather than pass judgment on these women who I like a lot even if they don’t send thank you notes.</p>
<p>Yea, I’ve gotten a few thank you notes like that and was very nonplussed. Really disappointed. Have gotten better thank you notes from funerals I’ve attended! It shouldn’t be that tough for the couple (or one of them) to jot a few lines, acknowledging whatever gift they got from you, if they know what it even was!?!?!</p>
<p>When I was getting married to a young, Army officer, somebody had the foresight to give me one of those big, fat etiquette books. My own kids have to be reminded more than I would like.</p>
<p>The only wedding I’ve been to where I haven’t later received a Thank You note was my husband’s brother and his wife. It was over 30 years ago and I still remember. 
My first D to be married wrote all the Thank You notes herself. All were sent within about two months of the wedding. My second D and her husband shared the note-writing; he did his family & friends, she did hers, and they split the ones to their friends. Theirs took a little longer but still were out within three months. They ordered notes from their photographer. They had a border around a post-card sized note and the border was photos from their wedding. They received many compliments on them, and the relatives, in particular, liked them because they could be placed in a photo album along with the photos that the family members took that day.</p>
<p>Weddings are fun, and there are so many different ways to do it. I’ve been to beautiful weddings that were done inexpensively and beautiful weddings where cost was no issue. We’ve made a point with our Ds to let them plan the wedding they wanted along with their fiances. Most of the planning, research, and work, was done by the couple, along with a wedding planner (who was invaluable), and our opinion and views were sought once the initial research was done. Both had relatively small weddings (~75 & 100), with only family members, close family friends, and their own friends attending. Both days were absolutely wonderful celebrations and we’re now in the midst of D3’s wedding plans. Two more to go after this. :)</p>
<p>Actually, I might have been to one of those 6 figure weddings and it just occurred to me. I was the flower girl to a woman who babysat me when I was younger. I remember it being very big, but I don’t remember much else. </p>
<p>Anyway, she came from a small family. She had one sister, parents, and each of her parents had one sibling and very few children. The man that she married was an immigrant who had a very, very large family. I distinctly remember being one of the few people there not speaking Arabic. </p>
<p>Anyway, there had to be well over 1000 people in attendance. She had to write thank you notes to all of them, despite the fact that she wanted a very small wedding. She was divorced within a few months. I’m convinced she was writing thank you notes for longer than she was actually married. She is now happily married with 3 kids and I’m pretty sure the second, very simple wedding (it was done at the court house followed by a BBQ for her family and friends) was her dream wedding.</p>
<p>The “average” engagement diamond is 1.18 carats and costs $3,500 to $4,500, according to something I just read that cited Bride’s magazine as the source? Surely that must be bogus! Or is that the reason people aren’t getting married (at all, or until they’re close to 30) – they can’t afford an “average” engagement ring?</p>
<p>Should always write all the thank-you notes before you separate. 
(I have a cousin who didn’t quite manage it.)</p>
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<p>Couples can’t even afford the wedding rings which is why most wedding rings are made of non-precious metals today.</p>
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<p>Everybody wants to be above average.</p>
<p>Barring emergency surgery or rushed deployment, etc. there should be thank you notes. I’m with LasMa’s mom. I think it does say something about the bride (sorry to be sexist, that’s how it is) regardless of her educational or professional status. I find it very sad that we as a country now seem to be pleased if we get “anything” that remotely qualifies–pictures of a thank you card, a computer print out, etc. Perhaps some children are not trained this is proper etiquette, but I still find it very difficult to believe there’s a bride today who doesn’t know a thank-you note should be written. </p>
<p>As someone noted, I receive lovely thank you notes from funerals and I always feel bad about that, like it’s a extra burden on a widow during a very difficult time. Really, they can do this during a time of bereavement, but a young bride/couple cannot? I find it interesting that in my experience, it’s been the fanciest weddings which had the worse offenders.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to sound like the thank-you police, but I hate imposing/infringing on the time of others and am so appreciative when someone does something like take a day(s) off work, buy new clothes, travel, use their time, and buy a gift. 44 cents and a few moments of time really aren’t all that onerous.</p>
<p>Have not heard of wedding rings made of nonprecious metals–the weddings I’ve attended seem to have the traditional gold bans.</p>