w00t w00t!

i would like to say that even though our save the dates came in wonky (and we're still trying to figure that out!) our stamps and the stamper with my moms address came in PERFECT!



yeah, yeah...i know its naive of me to blur out the address cause anyone can get it (especially with our last name), but it makes me feel better

12/31/2010 5:46:43 PM

if anyone is looking for a really awesome (in my opinion) bridesmaid dress on the *CHEAP* and can make a quick decision TODAY, the tart infinity dresses are on sale (usually ~ $250) on ideeli.com for $55!!!! and they have the maxi version for $59 i believe (but in less colors).

they are the convertible kind of dress that your bridesmaids can all wear in the same color, but choose to wear in different styles. anyway, i really like them and just saw them on ideeli, so i figured i'd share in case anyone could make quick decisions on their dresses haha.

here's the tart website so you can see what i'm talking about.

http://www.tartcollections.com/infinity.html


and ideeli. its like a ruelala/hautelook type of deal where you have to create an account. but i know several people that have used these as their BMs dresses, and this is a super good deal! i am not planning a wedding or else i'd jump on the deal myself!

http://www.ideeli.com/events/34631/offers/827043/latest_view/345323

1/1/2011 3:37:42 PM

Wadhead - that photo is a-ma-zing!!!!

1/3/2011 11:57:34 PM

Fiancee and I are trying to plan a destination type wedding in Jamaica where we rent out a 4 room beach house for five days and invite about 5 people to come down with us for the ceremony.

This is great cuz it will be just what we want

but the downside is that we cant pay for the family to come

thoughts?

1/4/2011 12:45:48 AM

Just be prepared to have fewer people than expected... Things are tight for a lot of people now-a-days. :\

1/4/2011 12:55:17 AM

i'm starting to plan my wedding and went to the wedding show over the weekend and got overwhelmed with all the vendors.....some really good, some really bad, some cheap, some over the top expensive

so any recommendations would be appreciated, primarily trying to narrow down photographer, videographer, florist, and DJ.

looking for quality, genuine vendors that don't overcharge

thanks.

1/4/2011 3:17:00 AM

location of wedding? wont' really matter for photo, video or DJ as most are willing to travel...but it might for florist.

1/4/2011 7:09:34 AM

Quote :

"Fiancee and I are trying to plan a destination type wedding in Jamaica where we rent out a 4 room beach house for five days and invite about 5 people to come down with us for the ceremony. This is great cuz it will be just what we want but the downside is that we cant pay for the family to come thoughts?"

the 5 people = your family? Or you mean, you can pay for the 5 other people to attend, but not any extras that might want to come? It takes way more planning and effort but maybe you could try putting together a low budget wedding closer to home so they can come. If it's really the destination part that's driving the decision, then do it on a beach in the US, it would cut down on the cost a lot, and might free up some money to help family out or give them the option to drive.

We thought about doing something like this but it's not like you're saving THAT much money when you factor in airplane tickets. Ultimately we didn't do it because we wanted our honeymoon to be a separate thing from the wedding instead of mixed in together.

1/4/2011 8:12:37 AM

^^^ I'm biased, but here are our videographer and photographer:

Video - http://www.lifestagefilms.com/ (Joie is using them too)
Photographer - http://www.jeremyigo.com/blog/

1/4/2011 8:39:14 AM

Quote :

"location of wedding? wont' really matter for photo, video or DJ as most are willing to travel...but it might for florist."

i'm sorry it was late and i forgot to mention i am getting married in downtown raleigh, so i prefer local vendors...easier to work with

1/4/2011 10:42:18 AM

We're using Story Photographers for photography and Catering By Design for the catering. I'm doing the flowers myself (farmers market florist ftw!) and have no clue what I'm doing for music yet

1/4/2011 10:55:08 AM

Quote :

"the 5 people = your family? Or you mean, you can pay for the 5 other people to attend, but not any extras that might want to come? It takes way more planning and effort but maybe you could try putting together a low budget wedding closer to home so they can come."

No, the 5 people coming are friends that can pay for the flights. We are providing the rooms and we have not figured out the food part yet.

1/4/2011 12:21:37 PM

Quote :

"I'm doing the flowers myself (farmers market florist ftw!)"

do you mind sharing which florist it is? i was thinking last night of also doing the flowers myself.
not sure i can justify spending $2000 on a florist for a few bouquets when mine will be a small wedding appx 50 ppl

1/4/2011 12:28:38 PM

ah, if your family is able to afford the trip, I don't see what the big deal is. If they can't, it's just a question on if you're comfortable with them missing out and what the consequences of that would be

1/4/2011 12:30:34 PM

^^ I don't know her name. She's the Chinese chick that sets up her van there on the weekends She's not down there right now since it's winter but she should start coming back around March.

1/4/2011 2:36:25 PM

I, too, am doing our own flowers. Maybe Sam's Club - they have good reviews. But now I'm gonna look into this Farmers Market chick

As far as vendors, we are using Evoke For out photography... Our package wasn't cheap but Eric's parents want lotssss of stuff. That being said, for th amount we are paying we get lots of stuff and it's great quality. Plus April is super nice I've heard Story Photographers are great, too!

1/4/2011 3:57:11 PM

maybe us girls should get together since i have no idea how to do floral arrangements. am i assuming that the flowers can only be prepared a day before the wedding for it to stay fresh looking?

1/4/2011 5:21:25 PM

^^ I love her bouquets because she incorporates random things like basil and rosemary into them. Her smaller ones are $5 and the larger ones are $15. I'm seriously thinking of just getting a bunch of the $5 ones and plopping them into mason jars.

^ As long as the blooms aren't fully open you can get them a few days before and stick them in the fridge.

1/4/2011 5:58:45 PM

I think that flowers are nice but I may opt to skip on them for mine.

are DIY flower arrangements worth the saving?

1/4/2011 8:02:19 PM

^2 We're doing random arrangements into mason jars too and random vases

This is what mine looked like for our engagement party... I want to change some things, but I was happy with how they came out!

1/4/2011 8:10:05 PM

^they look nice

1/4/2011 8:14:39 PM

Thanks - and if you ask me, I'd say they're worth the savings if you don't want super intense arrangements... I think the only thing I'm going to have professionally done is my bouquet. But I'm going to try to make it myself first

1/4/2011 8:19:55 PM

Gah you just reminded me that I really need to finish putting together my felt bouquets. I have all the flowers made, I just need to glue them into place

1/4/2011 8:31:13 PM

^is there another user name similar to yours who is a guy?
or do you let your fiance post on here under your name by chance?

i know its a weird question but i could have sworn that i recently saw a post that insinuated you were a guy and did a double take but i was on my way to class

1/4/2011 8:42:31 PM

aha yeah he sometimes forgets to log me out if he posts from my computer, then doesn't bother to fix his mistake

1/4/2011 8:44:26 PM

ahhhhhhhhhhh! that's what it is!

1/4/2011 8:45:11 PM

I'm thinking of getting this dress for our e-pics.... Thoughts?



I figured it would be a good one for our campus shots

1/6/2011 11:29:58 AM

Looks cute. Going to show off your guns with no sleeves?

1/6/2011 12:53:05 PM

I used http://www.fiftyflowers.com for my DIY flowers from my wedding a while back. I used out of season flowers, about 200 stems of irises and pink tulips, and it was only $350. I could only imagine how much it would have been if i had a florest do it. Customer service was super nice too.

I know two other people that have used the same company and also had great results.

1/7/2011 3:42:53 PM

^2 Yup Gives me motivation to really tone up my arms... and I think the cap sleeves will help, too

1/8/2011 5:29:09 PM

Reply cards are finished and my MOH is working on the wording for the invites. I printed all the reply cards myself and made the envelope liners this weekend. My MOH informed me of a well used tip in regards to reply cards - apparently people don't know to put their name on the reply card before returning it so I wrote a small number on the backside to correspond with a spreadsheet of guests. That way, if one gets returned without a name, I can just look at the number and know who replied.

Now all we have to do is fill in how many "____Seats are reserved in your honor" and assemble the envelopes and invites. I want to get them mailed before the postage goes up. Apparently it was suppose to go up on January 1st but the request was denied...so who knows when it will happen. I already purchased my stamps and would hate for that to happen.

1/9/2011 3:50:43 PM

We did the number thing too, and when they started coming back in I was surprised how many we got back w/o names. Great great tip!

1/9/2011 8:00:18 PM

Yay we finished making the invites!!

First we went to Kinkos to get them printed but the guy working there was such a complete and utter dick to us. It was like we were completely wasting his time by being there and wanting to do over $100 in printing

So we said screw it and went to Staples to debate just printing them ourselves. As it turned out the two guys working the print desk at Staples were so chill and awesome, we just had them printed there and it ended up costing us half of what Kinkos would have Never bothering with Kinkos again.

After they were done printing we went next door to the bar to finish assembling them



And now they're done



[Edited on January 10, 2011 at 9:20 AM. Reason : s]

1/10/2011 9:18:35 AM

If some of you in this thread put this amount of planning, effort and motivation in your day jobs, you will be CEOs some day.

1/10/2011 4:28:13 PM

^im sure a lot of people do.

1/10/2011 4:28:51 PM

Obvious troll is obvious

1/10/2011 4:42:52 PM

Does anyone have any experience with local, cost efficient alterations for a bridal gown? I have an option in rocky mount but would rather get it fixed here (Raleigh).

Also! I'm so super excited. I just got a bunch of milk glass vases and plan on doing my own centerpieces/floral arrangements but I think I need help. I'd also like to learn how to make our own bouteneirres and bouquets. Does michaels or any other craft place have classes?

1/10/2011 6:45:57 PM

Olga Samarskaya

Olga Olga Olga Olga Olga! She is the best and I was dumbfounded at how much she charged for all she did. I had a 32 point bustle--holy shit right?!--a few spots taken in, and went to her place three times total and it was ridiculous how little she charged (I'll have to look back at my planning notebook to check exactly how much).

919-462-9472
olga_samar@yahoo.com

And don't let the drive up to her home freak you out...she is amazing. Just google her name and you will see the amazing reviews. This woman rocks!

[Edited on January 10, 2011 at 7:39 PM. Reason : ]

1/10/2011 7:38:51 PM

^YES! I would highly recommend Olga as well. She knows what she is doing. She took the zipper out of my dress and changed it to a corset. It fit perfectly! My hem was very complicated due to all the pleats on the side of my dress, and it looked as it should. She is sooooo creative with bustles. The bustles look as if they were made specifically for that dress. My dress had pleats on the sides and the back of dress resembled the same side pleats. She'll steam your dress for you as well.

She moved back in October so I don't know where her new place is. I'm thinking she is still in the Cary area.

[Edited on January 11, 2011 at 8:52 AM. Reason : ]

1/11/2011 8:48:01 AM

^aha! that explains it! when I looked her up yesterday to verify it said Leesville now, but I wasn't sure that was accurate so I didn't put it. That may very well be her new address (off Leesville).

Like I said, just google her and you will see the rave reviews (aside from mine and countrygirl's). I see a few describe her as their "Russian Fairy Godmother" and I must agree

1/11/2011 9:25:00 AM

Thanks! My dress has some weird lace stuff, so hopefully it won't be too hard to work with. Can't wait to schedule an appt.!

1/11/2011 9:32:05 AM

^^ omg she lives on Leesville now? I wonder if she bought the place down the street from my parents. That would be so convenient if she has haha.

Quote :

"^YES! I would highly recommend Olga as well. She knows what she is doing. She took the zipper out of my dress and changed it to a corset. It fit perfectly! "

How much did this cost out of curiosity? I really want a corset backing but it seems like all the dresses I like are zipper backs

1/11/2011 10:29:30 AM

^^my dress was lace trumpet w/ semi-cathedral train and, as I keep raving, she did an excellent job.

She custom makes dresses as well.

1/11/2011 10:41:44 AM

^honestly, i don't remember. I just know what my total cost was(I'm thinking $275), but that included steaming, converting zipper to corset, bustle, and my hem (which was a lot of material to cut off). The corset was beautiful and excellent quality. I would just call her and ask how much it would cost to convert a zipper to corset. She does this quite a bit with dresses. Sorry I can't be more help.

btw, i had a full satin ballgown with a long train. aka lots of material, which drives costs up.

[Edited on January 11, 2011 at 12:46 PM. Reason : ]

1/11/2011 12:45:09 PM

I'm leaning towards doing a tea-length dress since it's a beach wedding so hopefully that means it wouldn't be too much. Even if it got up to $200ish dollars that would be doable I think.

1/11/2011 12:53:52 PM

You'll be very happy if you have it altered correctly!

I got my shoes in! A size too big, so hopefully they'll have my size. I was obsessing about getting red soles and the Christian Louboutin look, but I found these and they have PINK soles
(Percy Pump-Purple, by Paris Hilton)



And here's a pic of white with pink soles:


YAY!

1/11/2011 2:48:39 PM

Does anyone have recommendations for a bridesmaid brunch? I was thinking of just going somewhere with a private room where they can order anything instead of a set menu/set price. I think Brigs would be good, but from what I saw online it looks like they may not do private rooms on weekends. I'll have to call, but wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions.

1/16/2011 8:05:14 PM

My favorite places for brunch are Irregardless, The Weathervane, and Pooles.

1/16/2011 8:23:12 PM

Such cute places. My bridesmaid brunch is going to be in Wilmington/Carolina Beach...any ideas for down there?

1/17/2011 10:04:51 AM

yay the final save the dates came in!

and the card store printed and delivered them to us for free and just let us keep the misprinted ones


i have a test friday but i want to start adressing these so bad

(its especially fun since i have 5 to choose from .... )

1/19/2011 3:33:01 PM