Thursday, March 25, 2010

At the gorgeous chapel at Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA

Sunday was a comedy of errors.  I wanted to go to a bridal show, as I amazingly haven’t been to any yet.  Simon was actually okay with joining me, as it was where his best man got married and he loved the place: Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA.  The expo was from 12-3, then a bridal fashion show from 3-4.  I figured since I’ve already chosen my vendors, I only needed an hour at the expo and planned on arriving at 2.
We took the motorcycle and left at 1.  We took backroads since we were on the bike.  It was a bit cooler out than we had realized.  As we got closer to the Inn, we encountered a road still closed due to the recent flood.  So we took a detour and got back on track.  Then we encountered another closed road.  And another.  There were road blocks, and detours, and road blacks without detours.  The Concord golf course was under water.  It was AWFUL.
Yeah, so guess when we got to the Inn?  2:45 pm.  Just enough time to change from riding jeans to a skirt, check in, and get our tickets.  Except the show started half an hour late, so that was kind of lame.  But I got to take some great pics!
 


Gorgeous!  Nothing really struck my fancy, but I shared the 90 photos I took on Facebook since pretty much everyone I know is getting married apparently.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Suit drama

Okay, drama too long for Twitter that I could use some feedback on.  ;-)

I'm doing good with my planning, bought lots of stuff like bridesmaids dresses, wedding party gifts, etc. lately.  Having a mini meltdown over what the guys are wearing.  See, I want them to wear black suits, thought it would be easy for them to each provide their own and it's not a formal wedding so no tuxes necessary.  But none of them own a black suit.  They'd all have to buy one.  Renting a suit is more expensive than renting a tux cuz they're not as common (Simon had to once, it was like $125!). 

Simon suggested picking out a suit for them all to buy and helping with the cost (like $100/$150, since I bought the ladies' dresses).  I already bought the guys' ties and planned on buying their shirts.  WTF should I do about the suits?  Give in and have them rent tuxes (minus ties)?  Give them a Men's Warehouse gift card and a suit style to buy?  (One of the guys has money and expensive taste, feel weird asking him to buy a $300-ish suit when he'd prefer a $900, and feel like $300 is too much for other 2 groomsmen with kids).  The ties I bought are staying, they're from the same company as the bridesmaid dresses and are the EXACT same color, which I love.

Didn't really want tuxes.  Now I feel like it may be the easiest thing, but may look odd in my semi-casual/semi-dressy wedding.  Argh.  =(  Thoughts?

UPDATE:

Thanks all, we've decided!  Renting suit-like tuxes using this deal:

https://www.menswearhouse.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TuxRegistration?storeId=10603&krypto=rOe135V6taxiR%2Br3COUhVg%3D%3D&ddkey=http:TuxRegistration

Going there to check out styles soon.  Thanks everyone!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Woot! Won an eBay auction for a Fuji Instax 200 camera for my wedding guests to take pics with!

We all know photo booths at weddings are the rage right now.  While the idea is pretty cool, I thought it might be a bit expensive, and my average guest probably wouldn’t be all that into it.  I did like the idea of instant photos they can take with them and leave some for us, so I looked into instant cameras.  My photographer Lisa Rigby and others recommended the Fuji Instax 200.  I looked on Amazon and they had one with film for around $200, which was a good deal.  Unfortunately, I waited too long and it sold out.

Now Amazon is only offering it on their Marketplace for a whopping $389!  I wasn’t about to spend that, so I turned to eBay.  There seemed to be plenty there so I waited a bit, as my wedding was still a year away at that point.  Recently I picked up my search again, and saw the camera selling for $150 used.  Still a bit steep.

Then I lucked out the other day and saw it for a starting bid of $50, new with 2 packs of film.  Sweet!  I bid $150 and crossed my fingers.  4 days later, I had won it for $81 plus $10 shipping.  Nice!  Now I need more film, as each pack is only 10 pictures, so I have a million bids on film right now.  Still cheaper than Amazon (I love them, but not this time!).

What I’m going to do is set up a table with the camera on it, with a basket labeled “Take 2 pics: one for you, one for us!” so people can leave us pictures.  I’m hoping to set up some sort of backdrop, or maybe I can even move the wedding arch into the reception room for pics.  It’ll be very pretty:


…with these fabrics draped down the back of it:




I think that would look great behind the photos, and it would serve double duty!  After the wedding, we’ll obviously remove the fabric, then the arch is going in our yard.  :)

I’m hoping people really do it.  Instead of a guest book, I bought personalized note cards for people to write us messages on and drop into a vase.  I’ll collect them all in a scrap book, and hopefully I get enough instant pictures to put in with them, ideally matching each picture to each person’s message, or as many as I get.  I think it will make a really great memory and put faces with the names instead of just a guest book I may never look at again.  I’ll have to enlist some people to prompt the guests to take pictures.  It will be near the sweetheart table so maybe I can direct them there after they stop to talk to us.

This is really coming together!  I also recently bought the men’s monogrammed cufflinks and engraved USB flash drive key chains as part of their gifts, and engraved jewelry boxes for the bridesmaids’ jewelry.  That was an almost $350 purchase at ThingsRemembered.com, but totally worth it!  Basically our gifts for them will be their outfits, but since the men are providing their own suits and I bought the ladies’ dresses, I needed another gift for the men, hence the key chains.  We’re buying their shirts and I already bought their ties.  Just waiting on shirt sizes from the guys!  I’m anticipating having to bug them about that, lol.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Oh my goodness, I'm ordering my bridesmaids' dresses and shoes and the groom and groomsmen's ties!

Well I did it.  I just spent a bunch of money outfitting my wedding party.  We’re really doing this!
I already bought mine and my bridesmaids’ jewelry, and headbands for myself and my MoH.  Now I have purchased the dresses for all three of them, shoes for them, pashminas for them and myself, and ties for the groom and groomsmen.  I also already purchased my shoes, a white version of what I bought the bridesmaids.  The men will all be in black suits with white shirts.  They can either use their own or rent or buy one, but I figured it was something general and more comfortable than a tux.  Plus, the wedding is not very formal.
So here we go!  Pics of what I bought! 
Bridesmaids’ dresses:

Bridesmaids’ shoes:
 
Pashminas for bridesmaids and I:
 
Groom's (red) and groomsmen's (brown) ties:

 
I took a Twitter poll regarding the pashminas.  Since we’ll all be sleeveless in October, despite the room being indoors and heated I wanted something to throw over our shoulders just in case.  Dessy just started offering the ones above in colors to match their bridesmaid dresses.  Brown (latte) was not an option,  and neither was white, but the red (claret) trim of my ladies’ dresses was.  I figure it’ll be a nice complement to their dresses, and a splash of color for me.  These are for the reception; we won’t be wearing them in the ceremony.  I was debating between those, or getting less expensive ones from another company, in white or a color that may not match them exactly.  I decided to spend the extra and get them from Dessy, as they’re a comfy-sounding wool/silk blend and obviously the same shade as in the wedding party.
 
Since the dresses, shoes, jewelry, and pashminas are my gifts to the bridesmaids, and the ties are for the groomsmen, I need more things for the groomsmen now.  I don’t want anything too “gift-y,” as the girls are all getting stuff for the wedding.  Here’s where I need help.  You only use cufflinks on French cuff shirts, right?  So they won’t be able to use them if they wear regular dress shirts?  Should I get their shirt sizes and buy them nice shirts and cufflinks so they only have to worry about suits and shoes?  Any other ideas?  Thanks as always!  J
Also, I cannot WAIT to get those dresses in the mail and finally see them in person!  The only one available for them to try on was a god-awful shade of green, lol.

That was $220 in the salon, bought it online for $140.  Boy do they try to gouge you!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Buying wedding stuff!

I just bought some stuff for the wedding and it's got me very giddy, so I wanted to share it with you. =)

Bridesmaids dresses I just purchased:


www.houseofbrides.com/af
ter-six-bridesmaid-dress-s
tyle-6548-p-5-3-3645.aspx


Shoes for bridesmaids:

www.dessy.com/accessorie
s/Duchess-Bridesmaid-Balle
t-Flat/

Mine are the same, just white.

Pashminas for bridesmaids and I:

www.dessy.com/accessorie
s/pashmina/


Groom's (red) and groomsmen's (brown) ties:


www.dessy.com/accessorie
s/mens-neck-tie/


And the dress I want but won't buy till July pending my weight loss:

www.lightinthebox.com/A-
line-Sweetheart-Chapel-Tra
in-Satin-Lace-Wedding-Dres
ses-for-Bride---Reception-
Dress--WGY0049-_p47930.html


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So...what do you all think???

I'm gonna need super duper waterproof makeup. I cry over everything, gonna be 10x as bad at wedding!

I seriously need to start researching, and possibly trying, different brands of waterproof makeup. I burst into waterworks at the least provocation. I was too shocked when Simon proposed to cry, but the next day he used the word “wife” referring to my future and I dissolved into tears (in a good way!). I cry when in an argument. I cry when happy, I cry when sad. I cry during movies and books. I cry A LOT.

Not only am I going to be insanely happy at my wedding, but I'm going to be missing my mom as well. Talk about bittersweet! I've probably cried about my upcoming wedding at least half a dozen times already. I can't even imagine what I'll be like the day of.

So, any suggestions?

Along the same vein, I've been thinking about my hair and makeup style for the wedding. While it's not a 50s theme overall, I would love that look for myself. Soft curls, bright red lipstick, and all my other makeup subtle. I think it would look awesome on me. I do, of course, need to give this a trial first. I've been trying to think of a good occasion to do the trial for so I can wear it for an evening. I can't really think of anything between now and October! Guess we'll just have to go out on a date so I can show it off. ;)

Like this:

Gorgeous!

I could pull it off, right?