Cleveland Bride

4th of July: Last minute craziness

2009-11-22T00:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know all brides say that they are not going to let it happen to them - procrastination on the little things that will then take you all night before the wedding to finish. I did ALOT of work on this wedding beforehand, but I did leave a few details until Thursday night. Honestly, I just forgot about the fact that I needed two place cards for anyone sitting at one of the long banquet tables. They each had 16 seats, so I didn't want anyone scrambling for a seat. I had to print out a sheet of place cards for these tables, and have the boy cut them all out. This also meant finalizing the seating chart once and for all. The seating chart! I'm sure any bride has heard the angst from former brides over the seating chart. I did not believe that it could be that bad. It. was. worst thing I have ever had to do.

Last minute additions and cancellations did not help at all. I spent at least an hour Thursday night tweaking my seating chart, and putting everyone in the most perfect spot. I also had to print out the table names, and I printed up several room layouts to tape to the boxes of decorations and other wedding stuff that would be taken to the hall and set up by the caterer and my cousin. I wrote out meticulous instructions and taped them to each and every box that was being taken down and dropped off at the courthouse by the boys in the morning. I was up until 2 am.

Here's what quick advice I can offer. Start you seating chart early. I has started it at least a month before , but had to spend up to the Thursday before the wedding fixing it. I used Martha's website, and her free seating software was amazing for my purposes. I initially divided everyone up on my guest list on excel. I would cut and paste people that I thought should sit near each other, and then refined it on the Martha chart. Write out lots of instructions. When I walked into the room on Saturday, I didn't find anything that was out of place. Everything had been perfectly set up, and that made the late night worth it. This is a great chance to show off some of the things I ordered for the wedding from vistaprint, and my other paper projects.

My photocards

My reminder for people to go to the photobooth

Our drink menu- just a sample of the huge variety we had

I printed this on the other side of our photocards- I don't think anyone actually did it though :(

A picture of one of the table names I printed. They were all different types of wines- reds for one side of the room, whites for the other. I printed this on blank brochure paper I ordered for free form Vistaprint.

The sparklers- one of the many favors I offered. Last minute we bought a huge pack of these for $10 from Sam's Club. The cards on these were free business cards from Vistaprint. I didn't want to do traditional favors, but these were in a basket by the door, as well as cake slices. I am also sending prints in thank you cards from my mock photobooth.

4th of July: Doing my own flowers!

2009-11-20T22:03:00.015-05:00

Early Thursday morning, my mom and I were awakened by the delivery of a new kitchen table. They were also cutting it really close! We were able to move their old table into the garage, which turned out perfectly, because an hour later I received my shipment of flowers! My original order had been to Fifty Flowers for 100 white ranunculus, but they canceled it a few days before the wedding due to shortages. I was very disappointed, but unwilling to substitute with a more expensive flower. I quickly placed my order with Flowers and Freshness. I ordered 100 roses, and 50 stems of hypericum berries.

They were great, and I highly recommend them. I was able to order 25 each of 4 different rose types, which were jade(green), limo(green), twin(green), and cream. With shipping, the total was $160. I also purchased a bunch of green hydrangeas for my bouquet, and a huge bunch of orange roses at a local Sam's Club for about $30. Including supplies I bought at the dollar store(floral tape, wire, ribbon), I spent about $200.

I wish I had more pictures of the bouquet making, but we were all busy. My mom and I filled big buckets with water and flower food, and stuck all the flowers in them in the garage. This past summer in the northeast/Midwest area was quite rainy and cool, and the few days leading up to my wedding was no exception, so the flowers did great sitting in the garage. My grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, and sister came over, and we got started. I have never made a bouquet or have any experience with flower arranging, and neither did any of my helpers. I just want to clarify that. I don't think my bouquets were an amazing work of art, but I thought they were lovely and worked for our purposes.

Our basic strategy was to wrap 3 roses together (1 of each of the greens)with one stem of hypericum berries, and then wrap 4 of these together into a bouquet for the bridesmaids. I also added a few peacock feathers to kind of fan out from the edge. We wrapped these all with lots of floral tape, and double secured the edges with some hot glue. We left long stems that we could then stick back in the buckets. They would be finished on Saturday morning!

For my own bouquet, I used the whole bunch of green hydrangeas, and the cream roses. This bouquet was extremely difficult to make, because the hydrangea stems are very thick, and the cream rose heads kept getting popped off. I put in the ostrich feathers to see how it would look, but later pulled them out.

We then worked on the boutonnieres. For the two fathers, we used a rose, a stem of hypericum berries, and a peacock feather. The groomsmen got a large stem of hypericum berries, and a peacock feather. I didn't make the groom's yet, as I would use a stem from my own bouquet on Saturday morning. We also left these stems very long, so they could sit in the water until they were ready to be finished. My mom also made small bouquets for her and my mother-in-law using the orange roses.

I enjoyed this work and very much appreciated my group of impromptu helpers. It was actually quite enjoyable to spend this time with my family in the calm before the storm. However, it did take the five of us around five hours to make eight bouquets, and seven boutonnieres. So make sure you allot a good amount of time. I did not find this to be difficult at all though. There are many great videos on Youtube that will show you the basic art of using floral tape. It is weird to work with at first, but just pull and stretch it, and it will stick to itself.

Saturday morning, before hair and make-up, I sat out on my deck with a few of my bridesmaids to cut the stems, and wrap them in ribbon. I used a gauzy gold for the girls and boys, and a satin cream for mine and the boy's. After wrapping them I stuck green push pins up into the stems to hold the ribbon. I showed the girls, and they were able to finish the bouquets easily. For the boy, I pulled out a spring of hydrangea from my bouquet, paired it with a berry sprig, and wrapped it in cream ribbon. The boutonnieres need more glue gun glue to get the ribbon to stick. There was also a slight crisis when I realized I didn't have any pins, which I solved by snipping the longer bouquet pics off halfway.

The sun was shining with promise for the beautiful day ahead, and I have never been more at peace and clear- minded than I was on that morning. It took about an hour to finish the bouquets and boutonnieres. Most people have commented on how easy- going I was on my wedding day, so I know that this is not for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second, and would not have done it any other way. I got all these bouquets and boutonnieres for $200, and we also used the leftover flowers for my cake and to decorate the house. My photographer took a few pictures of them on the deck when she got to the house.

Here's a teaser picture of them in action on the big day!

4th of July: Booze Breakdown

2009-11-20T23:14:00.002-05:00

Between the flower delivery on Thursday, and before we got started on the flower making, the boy's brother had gotten into town. My sister R, the boy, his brother P, and I all headed out to buy the massive quantities of beer we would be needing. A trip to Costco, Sam's Club, and Marc's later, the garage looked like this:

This was actually quite stressful, so I would recommend doing it some other way. The stores were packed, mostly because of the impending holiday. We took my dad's truck, and my sister's car in order to have enough room, and were stuck in lots of traffic going from store to store to get what we needed. After the first 3 stores, R and I came home to work on the bouquets, and sent the boys out to finish up. Neither of them are from the area, so they ran into a few problems. They went to Giant Eagle, only to be told by several nosy customers that they would find better deals at Marc's, an area discount store. After loading up the cart at Marc's (for the exact same prices), they wheeled up to the checkout, only to find out that they do not take credit cards. Leaving the cart, they head to the bank next door. Unfortunately, the ATM inside is broken, so the boy is forced to use the drive up ATM in the parking lot. On foot. I received a call containing alot of swear words around this time, right when I was showing my grandma how to wrap a bouquet. I'm giggling remembering the story, but two very frazzled boys returned awhile later.

I think we more than doubled our original alcohol budget, but I didn't want to think about it at the time. The good news was that we didn't run out! I'll do a budget break down in a later post, but I had felt that around $1,500 would be enough to buy beer, wine, and liquor, considering the boy works in the wine and liquor business. A quick note to people buying their own alcohol- we could have done it for even less than my budget. We had massive quantities of leftovers. I think we purchased around 25 cases of beer and had around 10 leftover from a wedding of 200 heavy drinkers. We also bought two cases of vodka, and had over one whole case left. There were half cases of all the other kinds of liquor and we had leftovers in everything except the Patron, which sold out. There were also a case each of 3 white wines, and 2 red wines. This is where we had the most leftovers. I think maybe a case and a half of wine was drunk total. This was the area where we went the most over, but my in-laws insisted, and since they were paying I didn't want to turn it into a huge argument. We ultimately brought 5 cases of beer home with us, which meant I didn't buy any all summer! We also have extremely well stocked liquor and wine cellars! But for those of you on a budget, know that it is possible to spend ~$1,000 on alcohol for your wedding.

4th of July: Wedding Recaps

2009-08-03T17:38:00.011-04:00

Well hello Clevelanders! My first blog from the other side! I have had several e-mails in the past month asking me all about the Courthouse and what it is like getting married there. I had no idea that so many people were getting help from my blog. I appreciate the e-mails very much, and will do as much as I can to help everyone. (Incidentally, I am starting a small business as a wedding coordinator. Since the wedding I have had numerous requests from friends/family to help out with their weddings, and because of my genuine enjoyment of the process, I am hoping to turn it into something I can do on a regular basis. I will likely be extremely cheap or free for my first few attempts, but I am excited!!)

On Wednesday morning, the boy and I packed the car up, and made our way into Cleveland, and drove immediately to my hair trial. I know I was cutting it close, but I was never able to meet up with a hairstylist on any of my other trips into town. I brought a pack of hair extensions I bought At Sally's beauty supply, and my laptop full of inspiration pictures of Carrie Underwood.

I immediately clicked with my stylist Becky as she played around with my hair. I left feeling confident that she would pull off what I wanted for my hair. Here's a few pics of the trial (I have NO make up on here, so just look at the hair :) I wanted to have my bangs pulled back a little more on the day, and have a little more height on top. She will be coming to my house on the morning of the wedding.

After that, we made our way downtown to pick up our marriage license. Since we are getting married in Cleveland, the spot to pick up our licence is the Courthouse! It was so surreal walking in there and realizing that in just a few days we would be back there at our reception! It only took us about 15 minutes to park, walk in, fill out a quick paper, pay $40 cash, and walk out with our marriage license!!!!

After that, we made our way to my house to unpack the car. We had a bunch of liquor, boxes of chargers, all of our luggage, and my wedding dress in the back! After unpacking, the boy, my mom, and I ran out to the store to pick up some foot pads for our shoes, and for the boy to pick up a last minute gift for his groomsmen. I also did not have a wedding band. The fantasy band with emeralds that I had wanted did not exist anywhere, so I had to end up getting it custom made. I wanted to look around for a good fake option to use for the ceremony, but they didn't make anything small enough for my minuscule finger(4.25), and I realized that I just wanted to use my engagement ring in the ceremony, since it already had alot of meaning to me. Besides, I already had a brand new fabulous 3 carat blue topaz ring that I would be wearing on the big day as my something blue.

After we went home, my friend (and bridesmaid!) and her husband stopped over for some beers and to help us assemble my programs. The boy and I had stayed up late at his work to print them the night before. This was honestly a very last minute project for me that I did not feel like spending a whole lot of effort on. I printed the pages off on a laser printer in black and white, and bought some cardstock in shiny gold, white, and black, and figured I could figure out some way to bind them. We ended up just folding the pages inside the cardstock, and using some stretchy ribbon to hold them together. We had a Catholic ceremony, so if anyone wants my template, just ask! Here is a picture of a finished one. These went into a basket at the front door of the church, and I only had one left out of the 75 I made. My sister stamped the peacock stamp at the back underneath the quotes I had looked up about peacocks.

They also helped us to put our place cards into our wine corks that we had cut slits into and alphabetize them all. I don't have any pictures of us putting them together, but here is a picture of them in action on the big day.

After that it was time for bed! One day closer to the wedding!

My Invitations!

2009-06-18T09:14:00.005-04:00

After all of the pain and suffering, I hope they were worth it.

Courthouse Acoustics

2009-06-18T08:42:00.007-04:00

I've had two comments on this issue, so I want to try and give my opinion. My wedding is still two and a half weeks away, so I can't be sure on how this is going to turn out. I can say that I hired a DJ, mostly because the bands I looked into seemed really expensive, and then they are limited on the music they can play. My friends and family like to get down to some current music, especially later in the night! The DJ is the brother of my best friend, so I trust him, have heard him before, and am getting a little bit of a deal.

Last week we stopped by the courthouse to check it out. Adam the DJ met me there, and he walked around, listening to the acoustics. It is very hard to tell where the echo will be when it is completely empty inside. He is going to set up on the opposite side of the staircase, with big speakers on either side of the pillars. I spoke with guards there, who have sat through many weddings, and offered the advice that sometimes it sounds good and sometimes it doesn't. Great help! Hopefully Adam can show up a little early to set up, crank the music, and make any needed adjustments. When the building is full of tables and people, the echo might be absorbed too. Here is a picture of the layout we are going with. Depending on the final count, the buffet will be either set up on the dance floor and taken down, or set up against the area they curtain off for the kitchen in the back.

Also, I am sooo glad to help anyone who is having a wedding at the courthouse! There was virtually NO information out there when I started planning, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me! daas325@gmail

Downtown Cleveland Map

2009-05-08T09:05:00.005-04:00

Even though I had the invitations designed by a professional, I figured I could handle the map all on my own. Some custom maps can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. It took me several hours with PowerPoint but I'm quite pleased with the results!

I used google maps, and the tracing tool in PowerPoint to make this. A very good tutorial was over at Weddingbee by Miss Ballet Flat. The icons were either free on the web, or found in PowerPoint clip art. Hopefully this will help our less downtown savvy guests!

Would you try making your own map?

Invitation Hell

2009-05-04T15:57:00.003-04:00

You know how all those checklists from places like the knot are always telling you to work on your invitations from basically the first month you get engaged? Well, now I know why.... it is complete hell. I started out with a simple and cheap plan for my invitations. I was going to design something easy and have them printed at Vistaprint. Easy-peasy and almost free..right?

Well, fast forward to now. I ended up booking a designer on Etsy to create the invitation files for me. It wasn't that expensive, and I just didn't have time to learn how to use Photoshop. After getting the files back, I waited for a Vistaprint free offer to price out what it was going to cost. Unfortunately, I needed just over 100 invitations, due to my ballooning guest list. Vistaprints free offers are for either 100 small, or 50 large postcards. I would have needed to make multiple orders to print all of the pieces, and the cost went up to ~$80 for all pieces. Now this is not too ridiculous. But I started to second guess myself. I am already spending all of this money, why don't I buy a printer and print them myself? Well, as luck would have it, we received a free printer a few days later. I tried printing the invitations out, and they looked awful. Plus the cardstock wouldn't go through.

Next up, I contacted a few professional printers. One never got back to me, one gave me a quote for ~$150, not including paper, and the third who was a friend of my fiance's gave him a quote of around ~$50. So I ordered some metallic cardstock, and I am patiently awaiting the return of my files. This supposedly cheap and DIY project is costing me WAY more than I thought it would, and I am a little upset about all of the extra work, when in the end I could have just ordered them from somewhere. Hopefully they will be done soon so I can post.

Let's add up the costs in the meantime:

190 cream envelopes bought from someone off theknot: $14
Custom design of invitation card, RSVP postcard, and accommodations card, and monogram: $40
Cardstock(50 sheets of 11'x17 metallic and 50 sheets of 11'x17' linen from paperandmore: $56
Shiny gold wrapping paper for envelope lining: $10
Ribbon to tie around invite: $4
Peacock feathers to tuck into ribbon from Ostrich.com: $20
Calligraphy pens: $6
Peacock feather stamp for outside of envelopes: $12
Gold and green ink pads: $7.50
Printing of invitations: not sure yet- I am hoping for around $50

Total: $219.50 or more
Per invite: (~125) $1.75

Stamps for RSVP postcards: $33.75
Stamps for invites: $42
Total: $75.75
Per invite: .61

Total per invite: $2.36

However, I will have paper left over that I will use for table names and place cards. Not sure yet what I am doing for programs. I will also use the stamps for these other projects. This is far more than my original budget, and seems almost ridiculous to spend so much on pieces of paper that get thrown away.

How much did your invitations cost? Did DIY cost more than you thought?

J Crew Bridesmaid Dresses

2009-04-21T22:20:00.006-04:00

After thinking long and hard, I decided to have a few bridesmaids. But I didn't want to burden them with a bunch of unnecessary costs- especially after the trip to Vegas!!! (more later) I'm sure everyone has a story involving a polyester nightmare bridesmaid dress, so I was determined to get attractive and potentially re- wearable dresses.

I looked online a little, and eventually settled on J Crew dresses. J Crew has a great selection of simple and re-wearable bridesmaids' dresses, and most importantly, they can be found on e-bay for less than 50 bucks! I originally found a great sale on the website- and unfortunately they did not have enough of the proper sizes. So instead of trying to find 5 identical styles in identical colors in the right sizes on e-bay, I am going to be a little different and have them wear all different shades of green. The dress style will be the same, but it comes in two different fabrics, and J Crew discontinues the colors each season, and comes out with slightly different ones. So the shades will be close, but none will be identical. It looks great in other bridal parties, and I like that they won't be matchy- matchy.

I have 3 of the dresses, and am on the look- out for 2 more. It has been a little stressful, but I wanted to do all I could to save them money! The actual dress is called "Sophia." The picture below looks like the sophia dress in the tricotine fabric, a smooth silk. The other fabric will be silk chiffon.

I have not yet decided on bouquets. I may have them carry feather fans, but I would have to start DIYing these immediately, or find some at a reasonable price online. What do you think- would you like this dress as a bridesmaid?

The DRESS!!!

2009-04-17T11:28:00.006-04:00

After a loooooong and frustrating search, I found THE DRESS! I was very picky, and had quite a low budget at the beginning. ($400). But I just wouldn't pull the trigger on a dress in this price range. I had been looking at Pronovias, and there are some great deals on these dresses on e-bay. But I couldn't find any of my favorite from this post - the Pronovias Recova, or the Paula Varsalona gown. Also, I never even got to try on a dress that I had been salivating over on the Internet - Alvina Valenta 9658.

After I got out bid on a different Alvina dress, I contacted a wholesale bridal shop in Strongsville, OH, called Anything Bridal. They could have ordered my beloved Recova for only around $1200. The catch was that I was so late in ordering it would come in a few weeks before the wedding. What if something went wrong, or I needed extensive alterations. I was also second guessing myself. Plus, $1200? And I wasn't sure if I could resell this dress.

I went all out on the Internet looking for the 9658. I stalked this dress. I found a girl on the knot who wore this dress, found her e-mail, and asked her if she would sell it (no response). I know I must have sounded like a crazy person. I checked Preownedweddingdresses and OnceWed religiously. These are very good resources for a budget bride. I could tell you every popular dress and how much they go for at this point. The reason I was having so many problems was that this dress was from 2006, and that it cost $3000 brand new. I found one girl online selling her used one for $2800. I just couldn't buy it. It was too much for a used dress.

I checked every single city's Craigslist. Also a good idea - I found good deals on alot of other dresses. But not mine! After this long and frustrating search, I got an e-mail from someone telling me they had a sample of this dress, perfect condition, price of $2,000. I was almost in tears, I was so happy. I whipped out my credit card on the spot! It's way over my budget, and needs alterations, but I just wanted this dress so bad! I am planning on taking perfect care of it, and re-selling it after the wedding.

Without further ado, I give you my dress:

Have you gone over your budget for The One?

A Peacock Wedding!

2009-04-17T11:18:00.001-04:00

Here is my inspiration board, so you can finally see what I decided on for decor:

Countdown...

2009-04-17T10:59:00.003-04:00

Its been awhile readers... the past few months have been pretty stresfull and frustrating. Its down to the end now...

2 and half months before the wedding, and here is my to- do list:

1. Finish my registry (my shower is in 3 weeks...yikes!).
2. Finish purchasing the bridesmaids dresses off e-bay.
3. Buy my shoes (I'm lusting after J Crew green silk shoes).
4. Buy my birdcage veil.
5. Purchase peacock feathers to go in the invitations.
6. Get the invitations printed, address the envelopes, and mail them.
7. Finish buying the ostrich feathers for the centerpieces after getting my refund from the e-bay seller that ripped me off (let me know if you want to know who this seller was).
8. Figure out fans/ bouquets for the girls.
9. Finish buying the LED tea lights from the Christmas Tree Store.
10. Make sure the girl from the knot is still going to sell me her gold chargers.
11. Send pictures of hair and make- up to my cousin Mary who is doing said hair and make-up for me on the big day
12. Book the limo (must STOP procrastinating, I got an awesome rate 2 months ago and NEVER booked...)
13. Decide on cake - and subsequently buy cake stands
14. Figure out when I can go into the Courthouse with the caterer and DJ to finalize layout and logistics
15. Send wedding band ideas to our jeweller
16. Decide on honeymoon
17. Gifts for parents, bridal party, etc
18. Buy a tripod and out together faux photo booth
19. Decide on buying a camera or getting last minute videographer off Craigslist
20. Finish collecting wooden wine boxes and have my dad put together a card box
21. Order linens online (that's right, I'm buying them, its cheaper)
22. Buy some clothes to wear on my bachelorette part in VEGAS!!! woohooo
23. Finish collecting corks, and prepare them for place cards
24. Make a hair appt for highlights and brows, a dr appt...
25. TRY NOT TO LOSE MY MIND!

What have I actually gotten done since December...well I'll try to write a few posts, but I bought a dress, am having it altered, booked a DJ, asked bridesmaids, planned a trip to Vegas, had invites designed.... so I've been busy! I'm BACK

Photographers, Caterers, Priests...

2008-11-13T10:56:00.004-05:00

(note: It might help if I posted this a few weeks ago when I actually got back...oops... I find that I can take this wedding stuff in small doses- if I do alot at once, I need a HUUUUGE break)

So I just got back from my whirlwind trip to Cleveland, where I managed to meet with my photographer, my priest, my caterer, AND look at dresses. This was a big step for me, as I have been having such a hard time even dragging myself into a bridal shop.

First things first! S and I got into town late Friday night, hung out with my mom for a little, and then crashed.

Early Saturday morning, we went to meet the priest at St. Michael's church in Independence. I grew up attending this church, and figured it was the best option for our ceremony. It is right off 77 so hopefully guests will not have a hard time getting there from downtown. (disclosure: I initially wrote the 77, and realized I would have to take it out before I got mercilessly mocked by you Clevelanders- what can I say, I'm a Buffalo girl now.)

The best option would be to have it at a church downtown, to minimize driving for the out of town guests. I looked into the cathedral, and they had an exorbitant fee and strict rules. I'm not familiar with any other churches downtown. I'd be happy to take suggestions!

We met with the priest, and even though I was a little nervous about my lack of participation in a church in Buffalo (S isn't Catholic), he was cool with it, and had no problem scheduling our wedding for the date we wanted. We had a slight issue with the time, but if we do all our pictures either before the ceremony, or if we do them afterwards somewhere other than the church, we can have the later time. There is a nice gazebo nearby that I am hoping we can do the family pictures in.

We have to do a pre- canna course, and the deacon e-mailed us an online compatibility test, but that's it! And the $400 fee includes musicians! So everything sounds good to me.

Afterwards, we drove out to meet our photographer, Corey Ann. She lives in Canton, so she met us halfway. I have to admit that I didn't spend too much time looking for a photographer. I read a few recommendations of her on theknot, I liked the pictures I saw, and I decided to go with it. She is available on my date, her prices are fairly reasonable, and I get all of the digital images on a disk so I can make my own photo books. She was super nice in person, and seemed like a vendor I could trust and be comfortable with. I hope my pictures come out as beautifully as some of her others!

Next up was the dress trying on(exhausting!) that I detailed in my last post.

Sunday I met with a potential caterer, A Silver Service. Everything seemed to go well. I'll do another post after I finalized all the details with that.

All in all, I felt very productive on this wedding shiznit for once. Although it is still far from enjoyable.

I

2008-12-03T20:23:00.000-05:00

I'm in love!

2008-11-13T08:55:00.014-05:00

On Saturday, I met my mom and sister at Catan's. They were having a sample sale that day, and were super busy. I didn't find anything remotely appealing about the samples, so I went to have my normal appointment. Unfortunately, they were too busy to take my appointment. My mom asked them about my favorite designer, Alvina Valenta. All of the sudden we were whisked to a secret part of the shop to try on the couture dresses! Let me tell you, it was like a whole other world in there. It was quiet and softly lit. The dresses were all perfectly hung in rows. Out in the main part of the salon, dresses were thrown everywhere, the lights were harsh, and girls were tripping over each other to grab the dresses.

I got my own huge room, and a super sweet and charming Russian girl to pull the dresses for me. I told her one style I was interested in, and she pulled 6 dresses that I am now absolutely in love with. Problem is that they are all waaayyy out of my price range. Here's all the goodness:

rder=0> Pronovias- love this dress- everything from the straps with the little flowers to the dramatic fit and flair. Close up, the top layer is actually two layers of patterned tulle fabric- so luchious!

Alvina Valenta- the designer I first fell in love with. This dress is so elegant and beautifully made. It is the most expensive at $4200! I saw an old style on ebay for only $300 this week. I ultimately didn't buy it, because I want to stay away from a strapless gown.

Paula Varsalona- I LOVE THIS DRESS. I love everything about it, from the fitted sillouhette, the rouching, and the gorgeous lace straps. The only thing I woul change is to a darker ivory or gold. Swoon... I think this one was around $3000.

Jim Hjelm- the Russian girl in the background helping me said this one was "Sexy Sexy!" She is right. It is a gorgeous dress, and would really show off your assets. I jsut don't think it is me for the wedding. Haha

James Clifford- My mom and sister like this one- it is very romantic and ethereal. I jsut don't think it is dramtic enough for me. I really like the more fitted dresses.

Matthew Christopher- I tried this one on at my mom's urging. It really is a beautiful gown. Those little bows on it are all individually made and sewn onto the dress to create the scatter affect. I like how the vertical lines make me look long and lean. Ultimately, the silouhette is the A-line strapless that I wanted to stay away from.

So what do you think? What is your favorite?

Caterers!!!!!!!!

2008-10-17T10:42:00.004-04:00

I just got a comment from a reader( my first reader other than my friends who could actually care less about wedding planning?) about the Courthouse and catering. I realized that I haven't wrote a post about my caterer. I have been distracted by the election, so I hope my last 2 political related posts didn't bother anyone. But I promise I will get back on track!!!

I've been in contact with about 10 or so caterers, but have only received proposals from my top 3. I'll go over each one in detail.

Robert J Catering in Akron, OH

I drove out to talk to Bob, the owner back in May, and then later went back for a tasting. Their menu prices originally seemed reasonable, but when I asked them to convert a buffet menu into stations(which I want), everything got a little more expensive. I've been making excel spreadsheets of caterers to compare cost, and this is what jumped out at me about Robert J.

Their base prices initially seem reasonable, but then you have to add tax and gratuity. Their extra charges for bar glassware, wash, and bartenders was going to be around $2,500! Add in the alcohol (at around $2,000), and the bar was going to cost close to the amount at any other venue. One way for me to justify the cost of the courthouse, was the fact that we could bring our own alcohol and save money. Most venues downtown charge over $20 pp for alcohol, so bringing our own could be a significant savings. Except for thousands in glassware charges.

I thought about plastic cups(more on that later), and went to a tasting. Let's just say I was not impressed at all. The steak was tough, the asparagus was terrible, and it just seemed...blah. I didn't really hit it off with the owner, and I couldn't see us working together. Plus, he charged me $30! I probably still would have worked with them, but $50 pp(after tax, gratuity) for the dinner and appetizers, another $2,500 for the bar and staff, plus a couple thousand to rent chairs and tables... and its over my budget for a caterer I am only so-so on. NEXT!

Taste of Excellence in Parma, OH

This is probably the first catering choice for a Courthouse wedding. I met with Chris from TOE back in May. He was very professional and knowledgeable about the courthouse, and suggested a menu that sounded way more fun and cool than any other caterers. Mashed potatoes in martini glasses? Chef seared meat right on the floor? Awesome!

I had a few reservations, after I talked to one of the only brides I could find who had used them. She gave them a bad review and told me all these things they had screwed up for her. I could forward her e-mail to anyone who is curious. Just let me know. Ultimately, it came down to price. The first proposal he e-mailed me was way over my budget. I changed a few things, and asked him to send me a new one. It was still over my budget. I asked if there was anything he could suggest for me to get my price down. The final proposal he sent me took off like one thing and did not save much. I really felt like he wasn't interested in working with anyone who wasn't willing to spend almost $20 k on the catering. If you think about it in terms of anything else you would buy for that much, it is a HUGE amount of $$. I could buy a brand new car for that, and have it for 10 years!

I was determined to keep my costs down and still have a fabulous wedding! NEXT!

A Silver Service Catering Parma, OH

I forgot how I heard of them (probably the knot), but I called and asked her for a proposal. She was extremely prompt at getting back to me. Her proposal was very detailed, and including the cost of everything. The bottom price was the actual price I would pay for everything. I was actually in shock at her price. Even though she charged me a holiday premium(not sure why, no one else had mentioned it), it was way lower than the other two. It included all glassware, two bar set- ups, all dishes, linens, buffet, labor, chairs, tables, set- up....everything!

I haven't met with her yet, and I might change my menu to stations and see how that affects the price, but so far I don't see a reason not to go with her. Hopefully I will set up a tasting soon, and let everyone know how it goes.

Cha Cha's Chuckwagon

Just thought I'd throw this one on there- I heard about her from the the knot, and figured what the hell, I'll contact her. Her website had amazing menus at good prices, and I was tempted to change my menu to a barbecue theme, considering the date! She was extremely nice on e-mail, and my mom and I made the long drive out there one Sunday in July. Her food was all home made, and very good. After speaking with her, I realized that she is just not equipped to do a wedding on this scale. She wouldn't be able to provide any chairs, tables, dishes, and had never done a huge formal wedding before. I absolutely would recommend her for a more casual party or gathering.

I have sent an initial e-mail to a few other caterers- A Big Show, Normandy Catering, Chenoweth, Sammy's, Executive Caterers, but haven't really followed up yet for one reason or another. If someone doesn't respond to me right away, and won't send me any info on e-mail, it usually makes me reluctant to work with them.

Any other catering suggestions?

The McCain Palin Mob

2008-10-09T12:35:00.003-04:00

This scares me.... this is not far from my hometown. I am truly glad that I now live in a far more progressive state.

The McCain- Palin Mob

That is all.

Links!

2008-09-25T14:48:00.003-04:00

Since I spend so much of my day on the Internet collecting interesting links, I thought I'd start sharing them with everyone. Not always wedding related!

Sexy Robots....creepy, but interesting

Best Time to Buy (including wedding dresses)

Marry a Rich Dude... um who takes this kind of advice???

Must Read on Wedding Debt... be careful girls, its easy to get carried away

Girls Gone Wild... not innocent fun

Wedding Industrial Complex

2008-09-24T10:32:00.004-04:00

Ok, because of the current state of the economy in the US, I thought this would be a good time to bring this up. I am a budget bride. Before I started all of this, I had no idea what weddings cost. Depending on who you talk to, the average cost of a wedding in the US is between $14 and $43 thousand. Now some people say that the higher numbers come from polling by wedding magazines and wedding websites, which are sure to skew the numbers a little. Brides with lower budgets are probably not participating or responding to these sorts of surveys.
It pains me to spend that amount of money on a wedding. Not when there are so many people in our world who don't know where their next meal is coming from. Some days I feel like not having a wedding at all, and other days I get caught up into the hype the WIC feeds us all. It's a difficult struggle for me. I want to make my family happy, but I want to put a cap on the spending as well. We were lucky to be given a fairly large budget from both sets of parents. However, I feel that it is not necessary to spend all of this- we have a house and other responsibilities.
I know I got a little bridezilla- ish when searching for the perfect venue. It just so happens that the place I fell in love with costs over $3,000 in rental fees. It is really hard for me to justify this cost- which is why I've been so back and forth on the whole eloping/ destination wedding thing. However, I feel like its all or nothing. I either want to elope, or have the beautiful wedding of my dreams. There is no option that lets me have a big party in my parents' backyard. I kind of wish I would feel very decisively one way or another. My ambivalence is making it difficult to start planning.
But in the end, I want my family there. I want my 92 year old great- grandmother to watch us say our vows. I want my parents (yes, both of them) to walk me down the aisle as a sign of love, not to give me away. I want my cousins to tear up the dance floor.
Next up- how I try to have the wedding that I want without all the bills....

Save the Date!

2008-09-18T12:22:00.008-04:00

I am in the process of making our STD's (haha) for the wedding. I really wanted to go with magnets, so my guests can stick them on their fridge. That way my wedding will stay on everyone's mind! While doing some research, I came across this site. They have hundreds of templates for Save- the- Dates, and you can even customize some of them with your own photos. I loved this photo booth one:

A little pricey for me at 100 for $150. I briefly considered buying magnet paper and printing my own, but then I found VistaPrint. I signed up a few months ago, and I am literally bombarded with free offers. A little annoying, but well worth it for the great deals! Currently, 25 small magnets or 10 larger magnets are FREE! I've decided to go with the smaller size (3.5" x 2.0"). It's about the size of a business card, but I think can still be well done. You can download a template and design your own for a $4 upload fee. (I used Illustrator, with a free 30 day trial.)

As a caveat, I am not a graphic designer, and have never used Illustrator before. However, I am fairly computer savvy, and spent a few hours figuring out how to use the tools and came up with this:

Those pictures in there are just placeholders- I want to rip- off the photo booth one, where we hold a sign that says "Please Save" in the first one, and "the Date" in the second one. I might put a background of fireworks behind the picture or somewhere on the magnet. What do you think?

If you don't feel like messing around with Illustrator, there are hundreds of templates on Vista. I saw that Miss Champagne from WeddingBee used a template of gold damask, two elements I wanted to incorporate in our wedding. If you search through Vista's templates, keep in mind that you can change the colors of their designs, and also change all of the text, font, and placement. I rotated all of my text and pictures 90 degrees so that it would print out longways instead of like a business card.

Again, not planning on using this picture, although I do love how my dress complements the colors! I am wearing this dress again this weekend for a rehearsal dinner, so I may ask my sister to take a bunch of shots of us to get one that might be usable. We are going to eventually take engagement pictures, but I am not sure if they will be done before I want to send these out. Which design do you like better?

Breakdown:

100 small magnets from VistaPrint........ $30 with shipping

100 postcards to mount magnets from VistaPrint..... FREE promotion

100 plain envelopes..... $10

100 stamps...... $42

TOTAL COST FOR STDs........ $82 or $.82 each!

Cleveland Lakeside Courthouse!!!

2008-09-16T11:53:00.003-04:00

I finally made the final choice on my venue! I just was so overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the courthouse that I knew it had to be my venue. If you are thinking about using the courthouse for your wedding, there are a few things you should know.

1. The "coordinator" there is extremely difficult to work with. She sometimes took over 2 weeks to return my calls. Also, she wouldn't send me the contract until one year out from the wedding. On July 5, I started calling her to get the contract. Three weeks later, she finally answered my call. Let me just say I was extremely freaked out during those three weeks that I had lost the venue. If you want her private number, leave me a comment with your email.

2. It costs $525 an hour. If you want the attached parking garage it is another $550. However, you get from 5 PM Friday until 8PM Monday to set up, tear down, etc. They only charge you for your actual ceremony/ reception times. I'm planning on going with the parking, although I'm not sure if it would be absolutely necessary for everyone. It tends to be pretty empty in that area on the weekends.

3. You also have to get liability insurance for $1 MM. Now, most people can do it through their homeowners insurance, but it will cost between $200-400. This is a cost I didn't know about- if it wasn't already enough there!

4. There is no kitchen area, not even a sink. Most caterers will charge you alot more to cater a wedding here, because they need to bring immense quantities of glasses, silverware, and cooking set- ups. No glasses can be washed or reused.

Congrats! And if any readers are having their wedding there, I'd be happy to talk about caterers, rentals, decor ideas, etc. I haven't booked a caterer yet!!

A 4th of July Wedding

2008-09-16T09:20:00.012-04:00

While searching for a theme for a 4th of July wedding, I came across a few rather obvious ones. American flags, red, white, and blue, eagles, or stars and stripes. I wasn't feeling any of these ideas though. My original ideas for a wedding had been to use a black and white damask, and a pop of a bright color like fuscia or red. After deciding on my venue, I wanted to incorporate gold into my color scheme.
Enter my new brilliant idea.... fireworks! It still represents the 4th of July, but is not as cheesy as having American flags everywhere. There are lots of great ideas that would incorporate a fireworks theme. I can give sparklers to the guests as favors, or have a sparkler send off.

So fun! For centerpieces, I don't really want flowers(or the florist bill that comes with), so I've been looking into other options. I wanted to make an impact with tons of candles, but unfortunately my venue won't allow them. I like the look of the curly willow branches I've seen brides using. I would like to spray paint mine gold, and put them into a large vase with Floralytes to provide a soft glow.

If I wanted to use candles, I'd have to use the flameless LED ones. They have floralytes that change colors- would this be a cool way to show off the colorfulness of fireworks, or just be cheesy? I also like the centerpieces that use ostrich feathers. Now, I'm not sure on this saving money, because ostrich feathers are surprisingly expensive. But they are beautiful, and you can get the feathers dyed any color you want. I could also use the colored floralytes for these too.

I love how both these ideas kind of evoke the feel of fireworks- high and lighted against the dark, both fanning out into beautiful patterns. Maybe I could do a mixture of both, one type on the long tables, the other type on the rounds? Could I also use damask with these ideas, or does it not go together?

Long Tables vs. Rounds

2008-09-16T08:42:00.006-04:00

I'm thisclose to finalizing my venue contract, so I decided to start with the seating plans.... more later on which venue I went with!

I am in love with the idea of doing long feasting type tables at the reception. I know there are a lot of pros vs. cons out there, so I might do a mix of both long tables and rounds. I can put our friends and cousins at the longs(because I don't want to split all the groups up), and put my parents and other relatives at the rounds. Hopefully this works out. I've been using this program to help me with the table design and seating, and for a FREE program it works great! Just sign up, and got to Weddings/ Seating. I also put my guest list into excel, and you can upload it right into the program. I'm an accounting geek, so I use excel for everything, and it is super easy to sort people.

Here's a vague picture of how I want my tables to look:

The middle one will be the kind of head table. We haven't decided on if we are having a bridal party or not, but even if we don't we would just put family in friends up there who would have been in the bridal party. So it would be kind of the un- head table. The two rounds closest to us would have our parents, and whoever they would choose to sit with them.

I am still trying to figure out how to seat people at the longs. I plan on fitting between 20-25 people at each one, so I don't want to just tell guests which table and have them find their own seat. That could create some confusion. I will probably put something at each setting with a name on it. Maybe a sparkler!

Also, my side of the guest list is significantly longer than FI's, because of my massive family. Should I seat some of my side over on his? I'm sure there are other bride's out there with lopsided guest lists- how did you figure this out?

Does anyone have any experience at a wedding with long tables and can offer any suggestions?

I'm Back!!

2008-09-16T08:39:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I know I was getting pretty discouraged and overwhelmed with all the planning. So I took a few months off. But now I'm back in full swing. My reception, caterer, and photographer are almost booked, and I have lots of new decorating ideas to show you. I promise I'll stick around this time!

Runaway Bride

2008-04-22T11:51:00.005-04:00

Two posts on one day! I had actually been saving up the previous post for awhile now because I had been too busy (lazy) to edit and post it. And no, I am not blogging about running away from my FI in a scary looking spandex bridal outfit, but this pic is pretty funny isn't it??

What I am really bloggin about is the possibility of a Destination Wedding. The past few weeks have been pretty rough for me- stress from work, school, house, family, and wedding planning has gotten to me. I am no closer to making up my mind on the wedding venue. I had a pretty bad episode with my family over Easter about the wedding plans. Everyone has their opinions of what I should do, and some others were downright nasty to me for no apparent reason. I am dreaming about taking a nice long tropical vacation!

This has gotten me thinking. FI and I decided that one thing we both really want is an amazing and exotic honeymoon. He wants to lie on a beautiful beach- I want to explore a foreign city. We came to a compromise- one week on the beach, one week exploring. I have been obsessed with the idea of going to Bali. The island is supposed to be beautiful and offer plenty of beaches and exploring all in one. It is also in Indonesia, which means we could fly in by way of Hong Kong or Singapore and get in a few days in one of these exotic cities. It's win- win for both of us!

Bali has a great exchange rate right now, and I've looked up some accomodations that seem like a fantastic deal- now all we have to do is get there.

During my honeymoon dreams, I started noticing all the pictures of the care- free bride and groom saying "I DO" in the breezy tropical air. They look sooo happy and content. Why can't I do this??? This would solve ALL my problems!

Well, not quite, but it just seems so awesome. There are whole villas you can rent in Bali, often for less than $100 per person per night. The villas come with a full staff- chef, maids, butlers, even a chauffeur and car. We could have our ceremony there and then have our staff cook us a delicious dinner- all for the cost of food from the markets! How amazing does this sound? I know that not many people would be able to come around the world for us- probably just our parents, siblings, and MAYBE a few other close friends or family members. It does seem as if the cost would be sooo much less than a normal wedding and soo much more enjoyable. Plus we will be ON our dream honeymoon as we are getting married. What could be better than that?

Downsides are the fact that we both want all of our friends and family to be there for the big day.

I guess there always is the AHR (At home reception), but this is not quite the same. It also seems difficult to plan a wedding that will take place thousands of miles away without even going there to scope anything out. I'm sure it would be doable, and probably less overall work than a big wedding here. I just don't think I would care as much to have everything perfect when I am already in an amazing and tropical surrounding. The natural beauty of the island and the close intimate celebration would be enough for me.

What do you think? Anyone else struggle with a tough decision over a DW?? I don't want to upset and offend my family, but this is OUR choice. This view might sway your opinion!!:)