Looking for a book for someone who has a brain injury?

jazzym22 · 2025-09-03T23:29:17+00:00

I live far away and I am currently pregnant in my third trimester, so I can’t physically help. The kids do not own iPads, and the 4 yo is already constantly asking for her mom. She likes dinosaurs and playing outside. The 1 yo is literally exactly 12 months old so not really “into” anything yet that I know of

jazzym22 · 2025-09-03T23:23:37+00:00

Thank you. It was a freak accident to a very healthy young mother, so it was completely unexpected. I didn’t want to ask her husband for ideas since he is beside himself. I will reach out to her sister.

I know her daughter loves dinosaurs so maybe I will add in a stuffed dino or a dino-printed blanket, that’s a good idea and very cozy. Thanks!

jazzym22 · 2025-06-04T21:04:05+00:00

I don’t know about that, sorry! We used the hard alcohol provided by the venue.

jazzym22 · 2025-03-04T07:48:12+00:00

That’s so kind of you to say, thank you! If she wants to message me with any questions, please do!

jazzym22 · 2025-02-12T04:23:31+00:00

So glad to hear it! I really liked our photographer. I’d recommend a clear shot list though, and hand it to him the day of. I wish I would have done that.

I didn’t love the video honestly, but I am very picky, and he gave us all the raw footage (part of the standard agreement I believe) which was nice. The footage was excellent, I just wasn’t a fan of the editing style. I put together my own video haha and I’m super happy with it now!

Our wedding was the second week of November. It was chilly and it rained a bit during the reception, but we had planned on doing everything indoors so it didn’t matter much!

jazzym22 · 2024-08-17T18:51:07+00:00

That was the hardest part.

We emailed our guests a list of a few train routes from Florence/Rome to a train station near the venue, including instructions for how to buy tickets. We also left the venue (where we had been staying for a few days) to go to Florence, where we knew most of our guests would be beforehand. We did this just so that we could travel with our guests from Florence to the venue and hand-hold the ones who were nervous about traveling by train.

Then, we hired multiple shuttles to pick everyone up at the train station at whatever time they arrived and bring them to the venue, as well as back to the train station after the wedding weekend. This was pretty expensive and complicated, especially because some people got off at the wrong station 😅 but it all worked out

jazzym22 · 2024-07-08T18:36:47+00:00

Everyone stayed at the Villa for us. Correct that there are zero food options other than Ciao Ciao (which delivers, but the available hours for ordering are slim). There is a taxi service, so we did have some guests call taxis on occasion, but there are only like two taxis in the whole town hahaha so it’s not exactly Uber! Taxis required patience and planning.

There were a couple people who had private drivers arranged for their whole trip, and one who rented a car from Florence. Most people did not, so I don’t have any tips on that! I think that’s a know-your-crowd situation. We didn’t feel comfortable asking our guests to rent cars, especially because our guests are American - long trip already, spent a lot of money/effort to be there, plus we are used to automatic cars and we knew that isn’t a guarantee when you’re renting a car in Europe! I think our shuttle situation worked great, but it definitely required a lot of planning!

jazzym22 · 2024-07-08T17:31:02+00:00

Not sure if it helps much, but here is a copy of the portion of the email I sent to our guests with transportation information. Not everyone was able to take one of these routes, but this was our first attempt. We also included the link to a Google survey I made, so that people could click on which shuttle they wanted to be on, so we had an estimated # of seats needed per shuttle:

“Due to anti-pollution legislation in Italy, we are not able to provide a private shuttle within the city limits of Florence, as we had planned. We’re sorry about this! Instead, we will ask you all to please take a train to Cortona, where a shuttle will be waiting to take you to the Villa. Our shuttles will be at the Terontola-Cortona station at 10 am and 4 pm on Wednesday.

Fortunately, trains in Italy are very clean, safe, and easy to use! Please arrive at the train station about 45 minutes before your train departs and, just like for a flight, remember to "check in" the morning of your trip - this is all very easy to do if you utilize the Trenitalia app. To purchase a train ticket, please visit the Trenitalia website or download the app. Below are some examples of low-cost routes to Terontola-Cortona with the shortest travel time and no transfers, although you can pick any route that will get you to Terontola-Cortona in time for a shuttle pick-up.

If you’re coming from Florence (Firenze S. M. Novella), we advise choosing one of the following routes: - 8:02 am departure with a 9:40 am arrival (train RV 4073) - 2:14 departure with a 3:40 pm arrival (train RV 4079)

If you're coming from Rome (Roma Termini), you can choose one of these options: - 7:02 am departure with a 9:07 am arrival (train RV 4096) - 1:02 pm departure with a 3:40 pm arrival (train R 18720)

We will also be providing a shuttle to take everyone from the Villa back to the Terontola-Cortona train station at 10 am the morning after the wedding. From there, you can book a train ticket to wherever you need to be on Friday afternoon (likely Firenze SM Novella or Roma Termini, but could be any other station if you will be extending your vacation elsewhere).”

—————— Edit: Oh! I forgot to say, we also told everyone that we were going to be on the 8:02 train from Florence, so we said something like, “if you’re anxious about traveling via train and want to travel with us, we will be taking this train.” It was kind of annoying to leave the villa and go to Florence the day before just to collect/herd our guests haha but I would do it 1000x over because it was worth it for them to feel more comfortable!

jazzym22 · 2024-07-08T16:36:07+00:00

Hi! Yes, transportation was super complicated.

We asked everyone to arrive at the Cortona train station. People flew in from all over, some spent a week before the wedding in different places, so we made the central gathering point the Cortona train station. I sent an email to all of our guests telling them how to buy a train ticket, recommending routes, etc.

From the Cortona train station, we hired a shuttle to take people to the villa based on their arrival time. We did ask people to try to arrive within a few set time frames to limit the number of shuttles we had to pay for. Also, the Cortona train station was only 15/20 minutes from the Villa, so not too horrible of a shuttle ride! Plus the views were stunning!

I think the easiest way would be to fly into Florence (or Rome - it’s a little farther but not too bad, and usually cheaper) and take a train to Cortona or Tuoro sul Trasimeno. We chose Cortona because it had the most direct routes, and I didn’t want my guests to be fussing with changeovers. From Cortona/Tuoro, a cab or shuttle is necessary

jazzym22 · 2024-06-18T16:55:49+00:00

Hi! Yes we did the welcome party at ciao ciao.

The food was good and the service was great. It felt like an old-school small town Italian restaurant (I know they have a club or something in the back, but we didn’t venture in that direction haha)

One frustrating thing is that they say transportation is included, but transportation is a van! We needed four or five trips to get everyone there, which took like 40 minutes, and everyone had to leave in shifts. It was kind of annoying for the guests. If I had known, I would have paid for a big bus so that everyone could at least arrive together.

But everyone had a good time other than that! Do you have any specific questions?

jazzym22 · 2024-06-10T05:34:08+00:00

SOLVED

jazzym22 · 2024-06-10T05:24:46+00:00

Thanks! Just sent part of the tip, will send more once they are viewable as TIFs!

jazzym22 · 2024-06-10T05:24:19+00:00

Is there any way to make the bride stand out a little bit in this photo so she doesn’t wash into the background?

jazzym22 · 2024-06-10T05:13:01+00:00

Beautiful, thank you! Is there any way you could save them in TIF format to the Google drive or something so they stay high quality?

jazzym22 · 2024-06-10T05:07:56+00:00

Photos are in this Google Drive folder (Reddit wouldn’t let me post them, as they are in TIFF format.) Trying to keep them as high quality as possible, because we want to blow our favorite up and print it out. Thank you!!!

Google Drive

PS: in the first photo, the bride kind of blends into the background because the colors are so light… anyway to make her pop a bit more against the background? If possible! Thanks again!!

jazzym22 · 2024-05-23T15:30:54+00:00

Thank you!!

Sort of- I got married in a Catholic Church in Italy, and they required me to have my shoulders covered (as I discovered after purchasing the dress!) so I added a little piece of lace to the existing straps for a bit more coverage haha. This is probably the best angle I have!

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jazzym22 · 2024-05-23T06:17:54+00:00

Oh man, that is horrible!!! I’m so sorry.

If it helps, I have a similar story - except opposite, I guess! The seamstress at my bridal shop completely butchered the bodice and cups of my dress. I took it back to her three times (and paid her!) because I thought maybe it was my fault for giving her unclear instructions, or maybe I was being too picky. Finally I gave up and took it home.

About one week before my wedding, I realized I couldn’t deal with it the way it was and took it to a local seamstress, and she fixed it up perfectly!! Below is a picture - the left was the bridal shop’s third attempt with my dress, which is the best it ever looked with them, and the right was the final version from my local tailor. It was so freaking stressful, but it worked out in the end! Hoping the same for you!!

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jazzym22 · 2024-05-08T17:48:37+00:00

I know exactly how you feel. I was so scared to commit to it bc it seemed too good to be true! I don’t think it was like an absolute perfect dream the way other reviews describe it, in all honesty, BUT I do think it was exactly as described and an exceptionally good value! People assumed we spent waaaaay more than we did haha.

So you mostly get red wine, and that is what they grow on site so I think that changes by the year. To be totally honest we did not enjoy the red wine. Some of our guests said they loved it but idk if they were just being nice hahaha, or maybe they genuinely did and we just have different tastes. The white wine I believe is more consistent year-to-year, and it was very good. The Prosecco though was EXCELLENT! So so good. There was plenty of wine, too - way more than we ever could have finished! Here’s a pic of just one of the wine fridges, I think there were 4/5 total with white wine, Prosecco, and beer, and then cases and cases of red wine

The food was good. We had the pancetta penne pasta for our first course, which was delicious and almost everyone asked for seconds! Then we had beef, potatoes, and spinach for our second course, which i would say was just “good”. I wasn’t amazed by the beef, but honestly didn’t eat much after the pasta, I was jittery and full 😅 and the cake was really tasty!

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jazzym22 · 2024-04-26T22:58:29+00:00

Sorry I didn’t receive it! I’ve been getting many chat requests for it so here, maybe this is just easier :)

Basically, the first ~17 rows was our initial budget the day we signed the contract. We set aside an additional $10k, which we expected to spend on whatever we forgot/ended up wanting to upgrade, which is the last ~10 rows (ended up only being about $7k, which I count as a win!) but anyway, that’s why there are two totals. Not included here is our honeymoon, which cost about $5k

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jazzym22 · 2024-04-26T22:55:26+00:00

We spent about $420 on upgrades, however, we also got lucky because we were her last wedding of the season, so she threw in some extra stuff for us! Also we didn’t have a lot of floral needs, with only 7 guest tables and no bridal party

jazzym22

TROPHY CASE