Guess Which One I'll Be Wearing

Designer Wedding Dresses and Gowns | PriscillaofBoston.com

I have a secret. I found my wedding dress two years before Chris and I are to wed. Yup...I was one of those girls. I wasn't always that way...but when I knew God told me he would be my husband in a dream, I fully immersed myself in that reality...I mean dream. You can blame my mother and Edmee for the coaxing to find one. I remember it like it was yesterday when I stayed up late exploring the endless possibilities of bridal attire. Back then, I had no idea what my wedding would be like, but I knew the dress would help me set the tone.

This dress was an early favorite, but as reality and the real vision for the wedding set in, this look became a bit much for me. Who knew I was a more low key bride...certainly not I! Also, this is a dress that wears you and I wanted the dress to compliment me, not the other way around.


This dress was also in the running...until I saw another bride wearing it on a TV show. She looked like she could barely walk in it. Besides that you need to be a stick to really pull this off and by a stick I mean a size double 0.


This simple dress also was a very big favorite...but in the end I decided I really wanted something with more punch. However the simplicity of this dress appealed to me. Can you see my progression to the mermaid style?...wink...wink

Just so you know, my dress is from this company: Priscilla of Boston. Can you guess which one? Ha! They have hundreds of gowns so good luck. I will tell you that none of the gowns above made the cut. Hopefully you will get to see the big reveal on our day. I also need to begin discussing accessories and rehearsal dinner attire. Till then...peace.

To Chair or Not to Chair: That Is My Dilemna

CHIVARI CHAIRS:


In my wedded bliss, I have planned pretty much all the decor that I want. From the flowers, lighting, and cake; the one thing I had not given much thought to were the chairs. I mean who thinks about that. Well, I am now being forced to think about it and it has been somewhat of a stress point.

Here's why... The most common chair you will see in wedding photos and shows are the chivari chairs. They are made out of wood or resin and generally very pretty. Like many things in life that are pretty, these chairs are not the most practical or comfortable. They create big drama at a wedding, but big pains on your bum and wallet. The chairs, in my book, are very costly. So I am trying to figure out if the pros outweigh the cons.

Pros:
Pretty
Adds Drama

Cons:
Expensive
Uncomfortable

WHITE FOLDING CHAIRS:


On the other hand my venue offer wooden folding chairs. While they aren't nearly as attractive as the chivari, they are budget friendly and comfortable. They look great for the outdoor ceremony I am having but I could not imagine sitting on them during the reception.

Pros:
Budget Friendly
Comfortable

Cons:
Not as pretty
Does very little to help the decor


So as I ponder this great black hole called "wedding chairs", I will have to decide what will work best for us. I'm guessing you'll have to wait and see on the day of!

Wedding Decor: The Gathering

I think my new obsession right now is wedding decor. I have found so much of it. A few months ago, I bought 10,000 fabric petals on Ebay. I need to buy another 20,000 :-O





I also bought 500 crystals from christalier.com. My sister/ wedding planner begged me not to when she found out what I want to do with them. Let's just say it includes fishing line, trees, and the sunset. I originally wanted 1,000. So I compromised and bought 500.


Can you believe there are 250 in that little bag???

Stay tuned for more wedding decor gathering.

Tux Deluxe

Chris and I have been on the hunt for a tuxedo for him to wear for the wedding. We have played around with the idea of getting a custom tuxedo made or buying one off the rack. We just can't seem to make a decision.I absolutely love the tux that Blair Underwood is wearing in this pic. It's a one button Calvin Klein. Please. Not that it is impossible to find; I found a place that rents this tux...but we really want to buy it and have it custom tailored. The one button is really the look I like as well as the wing collar. It just looks so elegant and timeless.
.
Chris has tried on this one


And this one

Neither of which were fabulous. However fabulous looking they are in the pics. Besides that, for the same price as these we could have a custom tux made. So here I am back to the hunt.

My Big FAT Fake Engagement Ring

I have a $10 fake engagement ring that is well...gorgeous. Chris bought it two days before he proposed. Why you ask? Well, it's a long story but it took a long time to get the ring made and I had the wedding blues not because of the ring though. Besides that, everyone was asking me "So where's the ring?" That became tired very quickly. I didn't know it was that big of a deal. Well, Chris suggested that he would do a fake proposal and that I could wear the ring and pretend it was the the real thing. He was trying to cheer me up... so I thought. He really was plotting the real proposal. So, I thanked him for the suggestion, but decided it might spoil the real thing. Much to my surprise, he proposed with the real ring two days later! I didn't even know that he had it. I will post the full details in another post. As beautiful as it is it kinda makes me wonder if I could get away with it. Although it is very clunky in person and I like something a little more delicate.

I am ready for my Engagment Close-up!

Binary Flips Photography

I have found one of the best photographers in the business. I was scouring the Google machine to find an engagement photographer. Yes, an engagement photographer not a wedding photographer. They are really one in the same, but when I'm focused..I'm focused. So I locked in and stumbled across this site:



Not only does Dennis and his wife Christina do daytime photos, but night as well:



We did a day and night on July 8th in NYC. Hopefully we will get the pics in a couple of weeks. Chris found out that the photographer has SIX weddings to edit before our pics are ready. Lord...Give me the strength to hold out. I am thinking of begging for at least one or two previews so I can post them. They are an awesome team to work with and I might just use them for the wedding.

These are Save-the -Dates...Not Invitations!

FRONT OF CARD

I get a chuckle every time someone asks me if my save the date was the invitation. I totally understand why they are behooved by this pre-invite mailing. While the save the date is not common for most weddings, it is becoming very trendy. It was kinda silly for me to do one since our wedding was so close, but the wedding bug bit me and I couldn't help it. Besides I figure at $1 each, it might be a fun treat. So I basically designed it using a company called www.befunky.com. I took a pic of Chris and I from New Year's and cartooned it ever so slightly. All for free! After that I designed the font, layout and colors. I tried to do different backgrounds, but in the end it just looked busy. Then one day I said lets try butterflies. It worked. So since then butterflies have become a source of inspiration. Who knew! It's so girly and I think I am such a tomboy...but whatever.

The formal invites go out in a week or two. I am fast and furious on the DIY tip and am taking great pride in them. Once guest receive them I will blog on how I made them.

BACK OF CARD

SAVE-THE-DATE STAMP

Envelope
*image via PaperJam.com

Bridal Shower Invite

I found out awhile back that I can get post cards printed professionally for a very cheap price. The company I use first tantalized me with 100 free post cards, the exact amount I needed! Well, the truth is that once you upload a design for front and back, get full color, plus the shipping...the cost adds up quickly. Even though it is still around $25. So about $.25 per postcard. I think that is pretty good. Anyway, here is the design I came up with. I use the same fonts that will go on my invites, Trajan Pro and Burgues Script..yummy.

Trajan pro is actually the sex and the city script :O

Here is the final product:

FRONT OF THE CARD
(The underwear set on the front cost $600...they are on something.)

BACK OF CARD
(Note that I have tastefully blurred my "special" sizes and one of the stores.)

STAMP

The Happy In Love Ring

Happy In Love Ring: 3.6 Cushion Micro Pave Halo with Video

Here she is in my ghetto powershot camera video. I was so excited when i got it I nearly...well you get the picture. It was more beautiful than I imagined. My sister told me I looked like I was selling it on QVC or some anonymous Ebay Top Seller.

Here are a few pics. I feel a bit overindulgent posting pics, but so many people want to see it. I also want to show brides and grooms that you can get a ring, if you do the research at a very great price. I will never tell how much, but it was a great find. Both the diamond and the setting where the favor of the Lord. Thanks to Jesus...lol.

Engagement pics





Ok...that's enough!

Engagement Ring Inspiration

Engagement Rings - Worlds Most Beautiful Engagement Rings | RingEnvy.com

Ok...so I stumbled across this site months ago while looking for engagement ring design.  I didn't know much about diamonds and such since I have NEVER owned one. I am serious. However, I know what I like aesthetically so google and I commenced to search. That is when I came across this ring.

She had a video and everything.  My heart almost stopped. I just thought it was divine.  So there it was my divine inspiration. I learned very shortly that this was a cushion cut with a micro pave tri-sided band and halo. I know it's a confusing mouthfull, but that is seriously what it is. After I began my search I found this ring as well.

I found out that this woman is actually an antique jewelry designer. To my chagrin this ring style is antique aka. OLD, I was shocked. What happened to my trendy and cutting edge taste. Well, it went out the window.

To make a long story short I ended up finding my ring in a round about way that I can only attribute to God. I will blog on this soon. I will post the ring with vid and all in the next post.

The Best Wedding Videographer...PossiblyEver!

CinematicBride Wedding Videography - International Award Winning Wedding Videography


image via: www.cinematicbride.com

Seriously...I found Joshua Smith like two years ago. this was before I was engaged or really dating seriously. However, I knew he would be my husband. I knew what God had told me and I was so intensely believing that I began searching for wedding everything. I feel that my main purpose is to be a wife and mother, but I also have aspirations of Christian films. So on my hunt for video equipment and inspirational videographers I found him. That's right...Mr. Smith. He was young, talented and Christian, much to my dismay. He has been shooting wedding since 14 and is only in his early 20's. Well he really knows how to bring the beauty out of a moment.

Now...here is the dilema. He is very costly. I mean very high end. So when I decided he would be part of the wedding I was newly dating, volunteering full-time, and believing for a million dollar wedding (more on that in another post). I didn't want a million dollar wedding. I just felt God telling me that is what it would be. Even in these last days I am trying to figure out what he meant. Anyway, he is working with us and to be honest he has been a very important component for me. capturing the day and the moment means more to me than anything else. I want memories for a lifetime and I know he will deliver.

With that said here is the most outstanding wedding or otherwise work I have ever seen.