Eek Oscar! Really? The last time I went to a Big Cat exhibit (New Orleans Zoo?) the lions were being interactively fed by a lion keeper with a long pole. As I went to join the group to hear what was being said, I narrowly escaped a shower in lion pee. They can squirt quite a distance it seems. I won't get within 20 feet of them ever again unless they're behind glass! ;o) Happy planning, Tisha. You sound like you're keeping things within reason, which is absolutely the way to go. So many couples reverse the amounts that should be spent on home down payments and on weddings...

Hey, I can't see the point of a silver cake server either. Somehow I've managed to serve a lot of cake without one, and it would be just one more piece of clutter cramming my kitchen cabinets (actually to be honest I would have sloughed it off years ago). If there isn't one borrow-able from a family member the catering company or the hotel will have a fancy server for the cake-cutting ritual. Trust me, the caterers or hotel staff are not going to use it to cut the cake up for serving - they'll be going at it back in the kitchen with real knives. BTDT. When DH and I were married, we had an extremely small budget but DH's family was quite adamant that we get properly married in church (and we were ruthless in paring the guest list down to 55, had it been up to them there would have been 250!). We eliminated a lot of "wedding magazine musts" that we thought were pointless and usually big wastes of money and the Wedding Police did not arrest us for doing so. We skipped the dancing because neither my father nor I could do so (he was an amputee and I was doing well to stay standing up at that point, I actually had to sit down through most of the actual ceremony) so that would have been very awkward, and we were actually very pleased that the parish hall's insurance did not permit serving alcohol because that cut costs a great deal and we would not have to deal with drunk guests and even worse drunk driving. I'll admit I can see a big TV and video game unit being rolled into one end of the ballroom after the cake and a dancing period and time to circulate and chitchat, and the B&G (still in meringue-gown and tux) giving the guests a Guitar Hero serenade. But then, several of my friends are hugely into Guitar Hero/Rock Band and that's what they'd do, and then they'd start inviting people to play with them (the new version of Guitar Hero, coming out 9/1/09 - just in time for them to start practicing! - is a four-player format) and sing along and cheer a good performance. Why can't a formal wedding reception turn into a heckuva party, anyway? Who says it has to stay all within the wedding books' notion of "romantic"? Why can't the groom's interests (especially since they ARE shared by the bride) be considered instead of pushing him into the standard artificial self-propelled-tuxedoed-mannequin groom role he doesn't seem to be happy about just so some great-auntie isn't offended? It's not great-auntie's wedding. It's B&G's wedding and G matters as much as B does. (And goodness knows great-auntie will probably have enough to chew on with all the tattoos anyway, since the B doesn't sound like the type to wear long opaque sleeves and high necks to hide them. LOL) People will be talking about that wedding long after the details of a more generic wedding have faded into a blur. I do like the idea of a beer (and perhaps wine) tasting bar, maybe instead of the standard hard-liquor bar. It'd likely be cheaper and probably fewer people would get wasted. (If one can't make it through a few hours without a hard-liquor drink, even with annoying relatives around, one has a problem.) Have they considered doing a double cake - one traditional froufrou cake and one fun-and-funky one like they do on the Food Network show Ace of Cakes? It seems like it would fit their personalities.

Here are some surprises I have seen/heard of/done: - Bagpipes at the wedding (husband is part scottish, so it was a nod to his family) - Cigar Bar at reception (husband loves cigars and he participated with the guests) - Ice Martini bar (bar carved out of ice and served his favorite drink) - Surprise guest (a close friend or family member that groom didn't think could come to celebration showed up as a surprise) - A surprise groom's cake representing his hobbies - Having a snack brought to your wedding night suite/room of his favorite treats for after the reception - A gift given to him right before the ceremony with a nice card expressing how you are looking forward to getting married to him - cufflinks, watch, tie, pen, etc.

We are flying in for 10 days. Staying in the St. James area at the Tamarind cove resort. Western shores so the sunsets should be fantastic. Things are coming together and it should be quite memorable. But would really like to hear suggestions from some ladies as to what they find romantic and or romantic happenings they have experienced. Have thought about nothin else but our upcoming day. Thanks and good luck to you on your day in Barbados. Where will your ceremony take place?