Crisis Averted!

Yesterday I took my dress to Miosa Couture bridal salon to see about having it shortened.  Yes, you read that right, shortened.  I am 5' 9"; the "perfect" height for most bridal gowns.  Unfortunately, the dress I chose was too long, even with my 4" heels!

I was extremely nervous, as the bridal salon where I had originally purchased my dress from had told me that the alteration would be anywhere from $400 to $600.  The high alteration cost quoted was due to the amount of work required in removing and reapplication the delicate lace applique, the scalloped seaming at the mid-thigh (yeah for mermaid styles!) and the hemming of the satin under layer.  Please keep in mind that I got a screamin' deal on my dress; if it was going to cost me $400 to $600 I might as well buy a new dress.

In swoops Miosa Couture!  I had my consultation over my lunch hour yesterday (I have to say that I looked pretty silly walking downtown with my dress, my petticoat, which was not contained, and shoes in hand). Though I had purchased my dress through another salon, my consultant and the rest of the team at Miosa never gave me anything other than superior customer service.

I got dressed and the seamstress immediately got to pinning.  She discussed the different possibilities for the alteration, and came up with a solution that I was comfortable with, that would also be cost effective.  In fact, Miosa is able to do the alteration for about half of the original quote.

Yeah for Miosa Couture!

1125 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-443-1301

Today Is The Day

Today is the day that we find out  if we can shorten my wedding dress, or if I am back to looking for a new one.

Here's a little background for those of you who are new to my site.  Several months ago I found a beautiful Justin Alexander dress, that was a sample and fit me perfectly, with the exception of it being slightly too long.  We (the consultant, my friend Mrs. S, and myself) were all sure that with the right petticoat and the right shoes the dress length would be perfect.

Well, I tried on the dress with everything last Wednesday, only to discover that it was still much too long.  Because of the way the dress is constructed I am concerned about what the costs will be to have it altered.  I have an appointment at lunchtime today to get an estimate; if it is too much than I am back to trying to find a sample dress, in my size, with less than a month to go. 

I will keep you all posted.  Wish me luck!

Save-On-Crafts.Com

Who loves Save-On-Crafts.Com?  I do!  I have used Save-On-Crafts for everything from floral foam spheres, to candles, flower girl baskets to centerpiece mirrors, and floral tape to natural branches.

As a premier site for catering, special event planners, wedding planners, and the DIY bride, they have everything you want, and a few things you didn't didn't even know you had to have!  They have pretty much everything you will need, minus fresh flowers, at a great price.

I just opened my shipment of floral supplies.  I can't wait to use my Oasis Mini Deco Holders to make the pillar arrangements for our family tables!  I'm even considering using one of their great DIY projects, a floral tree, for our sign-in table.

Everything ships from Watsonville, CA, which is great news for you west coast brides; I placed my order on a Friday morning and received it the following Monday.  Everything is packed with care, and shipped via UPS.

Have you found any great deals out there for DIY brides?  I'd love to hear about them!

Source

Costco Does Bridal?

It seems like more and more retailers are getting into the wedding game.  The newest to join the ranks is Costco.  Yep, you can buy your gallon of four bean salad (one of my favorites!), the latest movie releases, and then head on over to the wedding section.

Costco is trying out this concept, through "Special Events", in Northern California and Nevada.  Kristie Kelly Couture is holding a trunk show for their Signature line at the Folsom, CA Costco through this weekend.  They will then appear in Almaden, CA February 17th through the 20th, and in Reno, NV February 24th through the 27th.  Dresses range from $650 to $1,400; that's starting at 40% off retail!

This is a great chance to get a beautiful dress at a "Costco" price.  You will get to meet with a consultant, try on the dress, and take home your purchase the same day.

You can make an appointment online by clicking here.

The dresses are lovely; once again, I am strongly tempted!!!

C1201

C1202

C1205

C1206

Invite Deadline

Well, now I've gone and done it!  I have given myself a deadline of the end of this week to get our invites out.  Let me be the first to say EEK!!!

As I mentioned to K... (author of Hearts and Whimsy), I keep feeling like I'm taking two steps back, for every step I move forward.

We have the invite kits in hand (yeah for semi-DIY!), finalized the invitation wording, and thought we had settled on a font.  Now, a day closer to our deadline, I have more samples for Mr. T to review.  We now have four different fonts to select from (invite wording is staying the same!), two different inserts to pick between, and six, yes you read that right, six response card styles to choose from.

At this time, I would like to send out a special thank you to White Dress Black Tux for posting tons of wording suggestions.  I would also thank Manda Mack for posting about her love of www.dafont.com; one lunch hour down, four fonts selected.

New deadline!  I'll get everything printed and put together by the end of this week, and then maybe they'll go out Monday? :-)

I will reserve taking a bow for once these are actually sent off!

 

Your Dream Dress

Okay, so I was partaking in one of my favorite pastimes, blog browsing, when I came across a post from Andrea Jean, on her site Newlywed Bridal Blog, about Your Dream Dress.  All I can say is love, love, love!  Andrea had a great experience with them, and I can see why! 

They have beautiful designer gowns at a fraction of the cost.  "How do they do this?" you ask?  Quote "Our inventory is compiled of gorgeous 100% Authentic Designer couture wedding dresses (new, overbuys, sample, canceled wedding gowns without alterations, etc.) that boutiques simply cannot sell before new inventory arrives."

If you always wanted that designer gown, but are on a budget, this is the place for you!   They have a return policy, yes you read that right.  If you don't love it, notify them that you are going to return it within three days of receipt and return it within seven, via FedEx or UPS insured.  Buy it, try it, love it!

This is your chance ladies!  I already have my dream dress, someone should get these beauties!

Badgley Mischka-Grace X Couture
Originally $5,050, YDD $1,250

Anne Barge La Fleur LF135
Originally $3,730, YDD $1,250

Monique Lhuillier Bloom Couture
Originally $6,160, YDD $1,495

A Birdcage, Traffic, and Smashing Pumpkins

The Future Mrs. R and I had lunch again this week (sushi Tuesday!).  I love meeting up with her so that we can get our wedding talk on.  She lovingly refers to herself as the Anti-Bride.  She isn't having an "official" shower, she isn't into being a "princess" bride, she bought her attendants dresses on clearance at BCBG Final Cut (you must visit that store!), etc...

Earlier this week she headed over to a small bridal shop to buy her veil.  She, once again, being non-traditional, did not want a standard veil.  She chose a beautiful birdcage veil, complete with feathers and rhinestones.  It is beautiful!  She loved it so much that she wore it the whole way home, in heavy traffic, with the sunroof open, and Mayonnaise, by Smashing Pumpkins blaring.  Gotta love her!

And, in her honor:

THE ONE!

So now that I've complained that the dress may be to big, I should tell you how it came to be the one.

As you know, I've looked at tons of dresses.  I had been to outlets, bridal shops, big box bridal stores, and everything in between.  I had tried on close to 40 dresses without "loving" any of them.

The dress was found after another failure at a bridal boutique. I had met my friend at a shop about two hours away from my house that had been recommended to me. We did not find anything in my price range, despite being assured over the phone that I wouldn't have a shortage of selection.

They did not show me one dress that was within my budget. In fact, when my friend Mrs. S left the room, the consultant actually asked me if I was sure that my friends didn't want to help me pay for the dress. Mind you, she had just shown me a dress that, after I tried it on, she admitted was $1,000; that's $600 over my top budget.

Defeated, we went to lunch. Fortified by food, and wishing for wine, my friend suggested that we check out Gesinee's Bridal Salon, in Concord, CA, where she had bought her dress several years ago. She had a wonderful experience there. I decided it was worth a shot, and am I glad I made that decision!

I walked in and told the woman at reception, "I am the bride you hate. I am here, with no appointment, on a Saturday afternoon, when you are clearly slammed with brides. The good news is that I only want to look at your sample dresses, and I don't need much help." She took it in stride, promptly pulled Irene from Alterations to help and pointed me in the direction of their samples. By the time Irene got to us (less than 5 mins later!), we had pulled 12 dresses. She encouraged us to pull as many as we wanted from the large selection. She also pulled a couple naughty dresses (full price) that were at least close to my budget. We then went to town trying them on!

Fifteen dresses later, I had three that I totally loved! Dress number one was one of the full price dresses, dress number two needed about $300 in alterations because it was at least two sizes to big, and dress number three fit me perfectly and was within my budget. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Gesinee's was not only able to accommodate me as a walk in, they had the largest selection of clean, undamaged, dresses that I had seen. There were no tears, make-up stains, or shoe marks on any of the dresses I tried on. The only thing I needed done to my dress was to have the bustle put in.

It isn't what I expected to fall in love with, but it is me!

Justin Alexander 8360 - Front (Designer's Image)

Justin Alexander 8360 - Back (Designer's Image)

Justin Alexander 8360- Gold/Silver (Dark Ivory)

A Loving Budget - Venue Selection Troubles

As you know from my previous guest list post, I LOVE spreadsheets! Although the day we finalized our guest count I was cursing Excel.

We had reviewed my pre-list of over 30 places (that list was vetted from all of the sites within a 2hr radius of my house:-)).  We had narrowed it down to our favorite eight, and our "back-up" fifteen.  We had also considered having it Mr. T's brother and SIL place.  All of these went out the window.  None would now work, either for budgetary or space limitations.

I had run an estimated budget for 100 guests.  When the list was finalized our count was MUCH higher; 185 invited, 150 expected (estimated) to attend.  Now that we were going to have more people, all the numbers changed. 50% increase people! 

We are paying for the majority of the wedding ourselves, with a little help from my family.  We also have no interest in going into debt for one day of celebration (no matter how awesome it is going to be!).

We went back to the drawing board and started from scratch.  I had already been thinking "out-of-the-box".  Now I went really out of my comfort zone (insert freak-out moment here!).  I am very organized when it comes to party planning, and not knowing where we were going to get married was very stressful for me.  It was the only time during the whole planning process so far that Mr. T told me that I needed to "chill out". (Reason #497 I'm marrying that man!)

I looked at out of the way places, parks, etc..  Then, in a "what the heck, might as well" moment I called one of our favorite restaurants that does weddings.  We were ecstatic!  It seemed that they were totally in our budget.  I ran a comparison sheet of what would work out of our new options and we found that we could do a ceremony, followed by a lunch reception at La Provence, cheaper than any of our other options.

Did any of you have to change gears drastically when it came to your venue?  It turned out great for us; how did it turn out for you?

The Dress - When to Give Up and When to Keep Going!

As you know, I did not buy a dress my first time out.  In fact, I did not buy a dress my second, third or fourth time out either.  I had a "moment" of panic.

I'm getting ahead of myself :-)

My trip to the Bay Area had given me a baseline to start with.  I had two dresses I liked, not loved, that I was trying to beat.  I was talking to my friend, the future Mrs. R, about my experience when she gave me an update on her dress.  She was coming from the same place I was: she didn't want to spend tons on a dress she was going to wear for one day.  She had found a beautiful dress at Macy's on clearance; originally $475, marked down to $150.  It wasn't a bridal dress per see, but it was white lace, with gold woven into it and it was wonderful.  Then her bridesmaids and her mom started asking if it had a train, and just "how bridal was it?"  She started second guessing herself.

While driving through Stockton The Future Mrs. R saw a bridal shop and thought, "what the heck, might as well!" and went in.  She walked in and saw that they weren't that busy (it was the middle of the week).  She the saw the SALE wall.  before she knew it she had an arm full of last year's sample dresses to try on.  And there, at Bella's Bridal, she found the dress of her dreams for around $375.  Not only did she get a screaming deal, she was able to take the dress home since it was a sample.

She told me it was a "must see" even though Stockton is about an hour and a half away from where I live.  My mind was set!  I was off to Stockton!

There I found two very different dresses that I really liked.

The first, a Mori Lee, Style # 2171 I did not expect to like at all.  In fact, it was my cousin, Mrs. M's pull.  I only tried it on for her.  I loved it as soon as I put it on!  I didn't know that my body could look that good!  I did want to make it strapless and take off the bottom ruffle.  With alterations and bustle it would run $375.

The second, a Christina Wu, Style # 5521 I loved.  It had much more beading than I thought I would like.  It was very beautiful and looked great.  Two things held this dress back from being on my short list.  1) It was a little too formal for the outdoor lunch wedding we were planning. 2) it was $100 more than dress 1.  It was out.

Once again, I had found a dress I "liked" but didn't "love."  I pushed on! More to come :-)

How many dresses did you try on before you found "the one?"

The Guest Count

I am a planner.  I come by it honestly, as my mother is a planner, the same as her mother before her. As soon as I said yes (okay, maybe a little before then! ;-)) I was in full planning mode!

I already had a guest list started; we were at 144 people before he sat down with me to go over the list to make sure I hadn't missed anyone.  Now, with our budget, we were under the impression that we should lower our guest count to the point that we would have about 100 attendees.  We thought that this would not be a problem.  We were wrong!

By the time everything was said and done (major cuts had been made!) our guest count settled at 185 people!  With this count we are figuring that we will end up with approximately 150 guests.  And yes, I did use my spreadsheet to track who I thought would come for sure, who was a maybe, and who we knew would not be able to make it.

This made us completely re-think our entire wedding plan (more on that later!).

How many of you had your guest count go up instead of down when you actually sat down and wrote you full guest list out?

Excel - Your Best Friend

Let me tell you. There is no other way to say this. I.. Love. Excel.

I was introduced to the joys of Excell by a former boss (and now close friend).  Sure I had used it for several years for work.  Sure I was comfortable with it.  Sure I could rustle up a mean spreadsheet.  But I did not  understand the pure joy that can come from using it.

At this point you are probably thinking one of two things: 1) Oh my goodness, I need to stop reading this blog; this lady is crazy. or 2) Oh my goodness!  I have found my Excel soul mate!

If you chose option 1, all I can say is through this blog, I hope to show you the wonders of Excel and all it can do for you as a Future Mrs.  If you chose option 2, you are my kinda girl!!!!

I use spreadsheets for everything.  How else could I effectively compare venues?  I also use it to track my save the dates sent, my invitations to be sent, guest count, and in the near future, meal selections, gifts received and thank you notes sent.  And yes, I color code ;-)

The Dress

Most girls that I have talked to have dreamed of their wedding from the day they were old enough to understand Cinderella.  Most dreams center around "The Dress".  Some picture themselves walking up the aisle in a dropped waist ballroom gown, or in a sexy mermaid.  Strapless or halter, each dress belongs to someone!

I am not that kind of bride.  Sure, I had looked at TONS of dresses and imagined myself in them. Let's be honest!  Who hasn't? :-)  At the same time, I really wasn't sure what I wanted, but I did have ideas of what I liked.  I also knew that I did not want to spend a ton on the dress.  My goal was to spend under $200.

My first time out trying on dresses I took the day off of work and met my future sister-in-law and mom in the South Bay at a bridal store that carried Bill Levkoff bridesmaid dresses.  Did you know you can order several of his dresses in Ivory, Euro Ivory or Euro White?  And coming in between $150 to $300 is a seal for one of these!

Here are some of the "out of the box" dresses that I tried on:

Bill Levkoff, Style 530
Available in Ivory

Bill Levkoff, Style 603
Available in Euro White and Euro Ivory

Bill Levkoff, Style 808
Available in Ivory

Bill Levkoff, Style 966
Available in Euro White and Euro Ivory

Bill Levkoff, Style 919
Available in Ivory

Before trying them on, my favorite was style 808.  After I tried all of them on530 and 603 were my top two; go figure!

We also hit up Gunne Sax, a bridal and evening wear outlet in San Francisco.  This use to be THE place (when I was young) to get dresses! (I guess I'm dating myself, huh!)  Let me tell you.  Unless you are a teenage girl, looking for a cute, short dress for homecoming, this is not the place for you.  They had four wedding dress styles in a ballzillion sizes.  None of them were cute at all.  I was very bummed.

I had not planned to buy a dress that day.  Just to get an idea of what was out there in my budget.  Now I had two dresses that I liked that I could compare with any other dresses I found.  Any other dress would have to "beat" my inexpensive bridesmaid dress option!

How did you feel when you were first starting to look at dresses?  Did you find something right away, or where you in it for the long haul?

A Loving Budget

How many of you had any idea how much money a wedding would cost, let alone how it would be paid for before your engagement?  I really lucked out in that I had experience with event planning.  Without that prior experience I would have been lost!

Let me be the first to admit that I have platinum taste with a bronze budget.  We ruffed out a basic budget, using my favorite program ever, Excel!  Like a lot of couples out there we are paying for the majority of the wedding ourselves.  In fact, until my Mom asked what our budget was, we thought we would be paying for all of it on our own.  Even with the amount my family is pitching in, we have, what I like to call (thanks to watching Battle of the Wedding Designers on TLC!) our "Loving Budget," of $8,000.

I knew I would need to do a LOT of DIY and coupon cutting to make this happen.  This made me really think outside the box for everything from venue to centerpieces, my dress to our photography.

I can't wait to share some ideas that I found along the way!