landlocked bride | midwest wedding inspiration

Although wedding planning has been put on hold because work has owned my life, I still have had time to catch up on my favorite wedding blogs.

The other day I happened to be snooping around on Style Me Pretty and came across this fantabulous candy buffet set up.  I have tossed around the idea of having a candy buffet at the wedding with the FI a few times and we both really like the idea of it as a wedding favor.  We just have yet to really find a set up that we like.  On top of that, we both really LOVE the idea of a photo booth (more on that in another post).

Back to the candy buffet.  So I was on Style Me Pretty and found this:

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How fantastic is that set up?  Obviously we would go with colors that complement those in our wedding scheme, but it’s just so fun and refreshing!  We’d opt for circular stands, instead of the square stands seen here, but I love how Amy Atlas set this one up.  Now, with the size of our guest list, we would need to make it larger, but this is a great foundation (if we really go the candy buffet route).  Not only that, this just makes the candy look so appetizing.

Now I want some rock candy!

Have any of you thought about doing a candy buffet?  What helped you to make your decision?

So wedding planning has been put on hold for now (no worries).  Work has just taken over my life lately.  There have been quite a few changes at work in the past few weeks, and so all of us are trying to adjust and ensure that our advertising clients are happy and that there is no disruption in the services we provide to all of our clients.

I did manage to meet with another photographer last week.  We pretty much know who we want to go with, but we’ve been keeping the options open so that we know when we choose our photographer that we made the right decision.  We do have some pre-requisites for whomever we choose (second photographer, a product credit, wide array of packages and a good personality – so we click), so I have been meeting with photographers that offer those options.  And, well, the meetings allow me to get to know the photographer a big to see how we would interact.  Both photogs are great women, with a great portfolio and personalities, but as I mentioned earlier, we are pretty sure we know who we want to go with…so stay tuned, as I am sure we will have an update in a few weeks!  Finally!!  This is the one decision we are very excited about!

Now it’s just time to talk to mom about it.

I promise I will be a better blogging bride in the coming weeks, as the dust settles a bit more at work.

So this weekend I was able to spend some time with some great friends of mine.  It was absolutely fantastic to see two of my absolute favorite people.  I took off work on Friday just so the three of us could go dress shopping.  The idea was to take all of my favorite dresses, show them to the girls and then narrow down my choices.

Now, after my last post, you all found out I had a bit of a dilemma seeing as how I had added five more gowns to my favorite list (ahh!).  I left that shop last Saturday with a dress in mind that I loved.  However, there was two other gowns at two other shops that I really liked as well.

My first appointment was at Town & Country Bridal.  I had mom tag along to this one, as she did not see me in any of the gowns I tried on last weekend because I shopped by myself.  We got there a little early, before my mom, so we browsed the bridesmaids dresses for some options/ideas.  Once mom got there, I went back to try on the five favorites from last weekend.  I saved my favorite dress for last.  After coming out in each dress, they all liked most of them for one reason or another.  Here is one that I tried on:

This dress was an absolute great fit.  The bustle was beautiful too.  If I had gone with this one, I would  not include the halter piece.  That part un-hooks from the dress, so you don’t have to use it.

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There were two others I tried on (which I cannot find photos of).

It was not until I came out in the last dress (the favorite) that they figured out which one was probably “The Dress.”  I had loved this dress last weekend when I tried it on, but I loved it even more when I tried it on again.  Not only that, but the girls loved it, mom loved and everyone could tell I really felt good in it.  And the bonus?  The dress really fits me and my personality and style.  And the second bonus?  There some cute little old ladies walking by the window when I had that gown on, and they gave the thumbs up and said through the window that it was “beautiful.”  Always a good thing!!  Don’t think you’ll find a picture of that one on here…you’ll have to wait until the wedding.

As for the rest of the day, the girls and I visited The Ultimate Bride and Demetrios so they could see the other two dresses that were my favorites.  They both loved these two, just like me.  So now the choice is down to three dresses (not quite a dilemma anymore)

Each of the three gowns are unique and “me” in three different ways.  I feel beautiful in all three of them, yet I also feel different in each of them.  As much as I sit and think about the gowns and what I want, my head and heart keep going back to that dress at Town & Country Bridal.  The dress fits great, it’s unique and fun, I feel great in it AND I just have this glow about me when I wear it.  No, I did not purchase the dress this weekend, but I am 99.9% sure that I have found THE DRESS.  Now all that is left for me to do is go try on those three dresses again, just as a reminder.  But, I’m pretty sure I have already made my decision.

I’ll post the two I don’t choose (which ever two they are) once I have actually purchased the dress…no worries.  You still won’t get to see “The Dress,” so don’t get your hopes up!

Did any of you find some great dresses?  Was it hard to choose or was the decision easy?

First off, can anyone say “slacker blogger?”

So this past weekend I decided to spend my Saturday morning by trying on gowns again.  I made an appointment at a different shop than the two previous places.  I mostly made this appointment, 1. to hit the shops by myself.  Most people that know me know that I prefer to shop alone.  I get more done and I can weed through the stuff that is not appealing to me. 2. It gave me a chance to try on some different designers, which I wanted to do.  Considering the wedding is well over one year away, I have plenty of time to choose a dress.  And, again, most people that know me know I am a planner.

Before I made this appointment, I only had two dresses on my favorites list (for the sake of keeping the dress a secret, I won’t be showing pictures until after the wedding, so those of you who are dying inside, I am sorry).  I just have no had much luck finding more modern, contemporary gowns.  Most of the shops, seeing as this is the midwest, carry fairly traditional gowns with heavy lace and beading.  As I even mentioned in an earlier post, my dress consultant apologized for not having more modern gowns. AND after meeting with a wedding coordinator (more on that in a future post) last week, she even confirmed the above point, that this is the midwest and people still have fairly traditional wedding values.

Okay, back to my point.  So I get to Town & Country Bridal Boutique (which I highly recommend), and am greeted by a super-friendly staff.  My consultant, whom I loved, was so helpful and sweet.  So much so in fact, that I made an appointment for her this Friday so my two best friends can join me on our dress shopping extravaganza (we’ll be visiting the two other shops that day as well).  So, my consultant and I sat down to talk about budget, look & feel and the style I like.  After she took some notes and got some personal information, we both browsed the gowns together.  I was the first appointment of the day, so we managed to grab about 10 or so gowns for me to try one.  After the first four (not kidding), I had given them all a “Yes” and she wrote them down on my file.  I did manage to finally say “No” to a few.

So, in one dress shop visit, my list of favorites went from two to seven.  Good thing the girls are coming in town this weekend to voice their opinions.  The problem?  All of the gowns just look so good on!  It will be hard to choose.  Very hard.

Any of you have a similar experience?  Did you think you may have your gown narrowed down, only to find some more great options?!

And for those of you DYING to know what gowns I tried on, here are links to the designers websites.  That’s all I’m giving you!  And for the record, some of my “favorite” gowns are not listed on their sites.

Demetrios

Marisa

Martina Liana

Watters

So the search for a photographer has continued.

I have been following photographers’ blogs for quite some time now (about five years).  I just love to check them every few days to see what new photos they have added to their portfolios and watching them grow.  It is during this process that I have stumbled across some great photographers and it got me thinking about what I want to look for in a photographer.

Thanks to a great photographer I met with recently, Lisa Hessel, she introduced me to the world of the image is found, who are two San Diego-based photographers who just have a great eye for a good photo.  Not only that, they have a creative way of capturing some important moments and show great perspective.  If you visit their blog, they just have some awesome images that I swoon over!

Another fun one, based out of Colorado, is Autumn Burke.  She really likes to play with angles, which makes a lot of her photos fun.  She also does a great job of mixing traditional and photojournalistic styles, which I think is really important in wedding photography these days.  You don’t want an album full of all traditional photos or all photojournalistic, but a good mix.

Following on these photogs is really helping me (and the FI) to figure out what we want in a photographer.  Since that is the next thing we are working on booking, it is one thing we are really thinking about.  I did meet with another one tonight and she was so cute!  Definitely a lot of fun with a great personality.  The next step is to chat with mom to see what she thinks.  I know that to both the FI and I, the wedding photography is a really important element of our wedding.

Is there one thing that is really important to you in the wedding vendor choosing process?  Have you really thought about what you want in a photographer?

So about a month ago I began my dress search.  I know, you’re thinking, “But why, you have over a year until your wedding?”  Well, for those of you out in blog world that don’t know me personally, I’m a planner.  I like to take my time and make sure things are right.  And most importantly, I like to get a head start.

Okay, back to the dresses.  I started my search early in the hopes that I could find a great deal (I’m a sucker for a good deal) or just have the chance to really take my time with finding “The Dress” by going to several shops in town and trying on a million gowns.  Who would have thought that after two dress shopping experiences, I would have found two top contenders.

My first visit was to the Demetrios salon in town.  They have a HUGE selection and their shop is HUGE, so even if there are other brides there, it isn’t crowded.  Before my appointment, I went online to search their gowns to get an idea of their inventory ahead of time.  On the day of my appointment, I got there early (I hate being late) with my mom, thinking we could browse before my appointment slot, but my bridal consultant, who we’ll call “A” was ready to go.  A took the time to hear me out on what I wanted in a dress (no lace or beading, modern/contemporary feel, something maybe a-line or mermaid and NOTHING poofy).  For the most part she understood what I was looking for, but every so often A would pull out something that had characteristics I did not want (oh well).  The bonus to Demetrios?  You get to browse their gowns yourself and pull ones that look good to you and ignore the one’s you don’t like.  Overall, I had a good first experience trying on gowns.  A was very helpful (and very good and tightening/clipping the gowns, might I add).  She wrote down my top two choices so I could bring my MOH and one of my BM in to look at a later time.  I didn’t bother browsing through BM dresses…I want to figure mine out first (and I’ll save the BM dresses for another post)!

The second time around, mom, a friend and I went to The Ultimate Bride, which is touted as being one of the better salons in town.  They have a large selection from many designers in a wide range of prices.  Anyway, my consultant “B” was pretty easy going.  We took a few minutes to go over what I was looking for in a gown, as  I did with A at Demetrios.  Then, B put me in a dressing room and off she went to pull dresses.  This was one of the downer parts of gown shopping here.  You could not go in back to browse the gowns yourself, so you had to rely on the expertise of your consultant to pull gowns she thinks you might like.  She new I did not want lace or beading, and she did a good job of pulling dresses with little or none of both.  She did happen to acknowledge that most of the gowns they carry have lace and beading and they have very few more modern/contemporary gowns.  I guess that was another downside; they did not exactly cater to brides of all tastes.  But,  a plus was that they let you take photos in the gowns, which was great.  And thanks to my good photographer friend, K, she took some “photographer-y” photos of me in the gowns!

There were two gowns I was hoping to try on while I was in The Ultimate Bride, but they did not have either in stock and I would have had to pay a fee to bring in a sample.  Luckily, B was able to pull I dress that I really liked.  It is nothing like the type of dress I thought I wanted, but it had so much character.  It had a modern feel, with a bit of tasteful sex appeal.  It was a great dress.  So, I found my second contender at this dress shop.

For fear of revealing my possible dress choices, you all will have to wait for photos.  And, for those of you who have seen them…keep those lips sealed!  I want this one to be a secret!

My best friends are coming in town in about two weeks and I am having them tag along with me to two appointments, one at each shop so they can see both dresses, and hopefully I can try on a few others.  And so the continual planning goes on in search of the perfect dress!

I really had an overall great time at both of my appointments and am looking forward to doing it again.  Did any of you have a good dress shopping experience?