So the Mister and I had a meeting today with a great venue possibility! We met with the events coordinator and the catering manager, we looked over menus, discussed pricing and they showed us exactly how our wedding would be set up.It went amazingly well. Andrew was actually pretty in to the site tour as well. He was asking questions and giving input and being the awesome fiance' I know he is. lol. Its just becoming pretty exciting to me the more and more we get closer to making the dream a reality. I can't wait to secure the venue and tell you all where we will be getting married. :o)
Stay Tuned...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Dress Uncertainty
From the moment a little girl starts dreaming about her wedding, she dreams of her dress. She dreams of being a princess on her day with the perfect gown to match. I was no different.... Well I guess that is not entirely true. Most little girls are a tad bit more decisive than I am. I have been to a total of 6 different appointments at 4 different bridal salons and have tried on 25+ dressed and just have not had that overwhelming feeling of surety
At some point in time there were 2 different dresses that I was/am fond of and I felt/feel like the each could be "The One" for different reasons. However, I am already feeling dress regret and I haven't even purchased anything yet. I NEED to order my dress by the end of January so I have a very limited time frame. I guess the problem is that I am just not loving anything. I feel bad for dragging my poor old MoH to ALL of my appointments with me, "find the dress" only to turn around a few days later and second guess it. Many ppl say that once you have found your dress you should stop looking and I have tried my hardest to adhere to that and I've done well. But it's not the pictures of other dresses that is making me feel the regret...its the pictures of myself in said dresses that have me confused. I also saw a different person in one of the dresses and I HATED it on her. Now I know dresses look different on different ppl, but how possible is it to have to strong reactions from the same dress days apart?!?!
I have just become so tired of going dress hunting and trying on dress after dress. I'm tired of coming home and telling FI "I've found my dress and it's only $xyz amount!" I'm tired of not having my Mommy there with me to give me her honest input and help em choose my dress because EVERYONE who knows me know I'm indecisive. All of this indecisiveness has just made this whole thing no fun. And it sucks. Idk what I'm going to do...but something has to be done quickly.
I am probably go out to different salon and try on a few different dresses by myself. I don't have the heart to go back in to those same salons that I've been to twice each (because I like the service and the consultants,) only to tell them that I am yet again unsure of my dress. I'm too much of a coward to put them through that so I might take the punk way out.
I wish someone told me it wasn't going to be as easy as I had expected.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Great Venue Debate
Who you choose to marry is THE most important thing in regards to a wedding. Closely behind that is what dress you'll wear and almost tied for third is what kind of food you'll serve and where you'll choose to get married.
To me the location of a wedding is one of the few things that will have a lasting effect on your guest. If you choose to get married on a yacht, your guest will remember getting sea sick. If you choose to get married in a park in July, your guest will remember the humidity and the scorching sun. If you choose to to get married downtown, your guest will remember the traffic. I think that we as humans are more likely to remember the things that adversely affect us rather than the positive intentions of our host. Because of this, it makes choosing the perfect venue a stressful, long and drawn out ordeal. No Bride can truly go through this process and not think about anyone else but herself (except a Bridezilla.) Once you become engaged and set a date, you are thrown in to this sort of rat race to find and secure the best venue around. Wedding locations book up months in advance. There are some places that actually have a year and a half to two year long waiting list. Brides know that where you choose to hold your wedding and what your guest see is sure to have a lasting impression so, IMO, it gets bumped up the list and in some cases (to some ppl) it becomes equal to number 1. (I am DEFINITELY not one of those ppl. lol)
FI and I have been tossing around a few different choices of where to hold our wedding. Because we are getting closer to the end of the 2011 and closer to there being only 9 months til the date, our choices are a bit limited. There was the gorgeously wonderful Walter's Art Museum that held our hearts, but the caterersfrom Catering By Uptown kinda killed that for us (see here.) Since then we have considered a plethora of locations. We have gone from hotels in Annapolis to old plantations/mansions in Mount Airy. Loft spaces in D.C. to Science Centers in Baltimore. FI and I are not set on one location or area of Maryland or D.C. so that allows us to be open and consider all types of places. However, we are limited by our budget (we want to be reasonable) and availability. Currently, we do have a front runner who we will bee meeting with mid next week and to be honest we are kind of excited about it. If things work out with this location, we will be able to cut our total wedding budget in half and still be able to give our guest a unique wedding experience that they would never guess. I told my brother about this location, just to gauge his response, and he said "They have weddings there?? You're allowed to get married there?? Wow!" So like I said, it's different, but fun and not the typical wedding venue. Nothing to be afraid of but it works perfectly for us because FI and I are not the typical couple and we sure as heck do not do things the typical way. :o)
So if things go well I will update you with the location. Until then you're just gonna have to keep on the edge of your seat and check back later. :o)
To me the location of a wedding is one of the few things that will have a lasting effect on your guest. If you choose to get married on a yacht, your guest will remember getting sea sick. If you choose to get married in a park in July, your guest will remember the humidity and the scorching sun. If you choose to to get married downtown, your guest will remember the traffic. I think that we as humans are more likely to remember the things that adversely affect us rather than the positive intentions of our host. Because of this, it makes choosing the perfect venue a stressful, long and drawn out ordeal. No Bride can truly go through this process and not think about anyone else but herself (except a Bridezilla.) Once you become engaged and set a date, you are thrown in to this sort of rat race to find and secure the best venue around. Wedding locations book up months in advance. There are some places that actually have a year and a half to two year long waiting list. Brides know that where you choose to hold your wedding and what your guest see is sure to have a lasting impression so, IMO, it gets bumped up the list and in some cases (to some ppl) it becomes equal to number 1. (I am DEFINITELY not one of those ppl. lol)
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| Should we get married in Baltimore.... |
FI and I have been tossing around a few different choices of where to hold our wedding. Because we are getting closer to the end of the 2011 and closer to there being only 9 months til the date, our choices are a bit limited. There was the gorgeously wonderful Walter's Art Museum that held our hearts, but the caterers
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| or should we get married in Washington, D.C.??? |
So if things go well I will update you with the location. Until then you're just gonna have to keep on the edge of your seat and check back later. :o)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Say "Yes" To The Dress?? What about "Maybe"
According to the shows I watch it seems like every bride is supposed to have some kind of epiphany or emotional reaction when she finds "THE DRESS." The few that don't are either too picky and don't really find the dress and settle or too nonchalant and are only going through this process because it is just apart of getting married.
They say that not EVERY woman has that reaction and "you just might be that type of girl." My response to that is... I AM THAT TYPE OF GIRL! I want to put on a beautiful dress twirl around in front of the mirror look back at my friends and mother and just know that this gown was made for me. I want to get so emotionally choked up that I have to stop that one tear from falling down my face with the delicate touch of an heirloom hanky. I want to to be able to put MY dress on and never want to take it of. In the words of Veruca Salt "I want it NOW!"
Knowing that this would be an event, I enlisted the help of my ever so present Maid of Honor-Shauntae, Andrew's Aunt Patrice, Matron of Honor-Tamara and a few of my Bridesmaids-Allyson, Candace & Charmaine to help me in the great dress search. Over the course of 4 months, 5 bridal salons and multiple visits we were able to narrow down my choices and figure out my "wedding style." I also learned a few things as well.
1.) I'm still just as much as a Momma's girl today as I was when I was a kid. It was difficult to not have my Mother's opinion and input as I tried on those dresses.
2.) Never take more than 2 ppl with you when you try on dresses. Although to my bridesmaids defense they worked together pretty easily when it came time to pick out their dresses.
3.) I guess I'm really just not that type of girl. :o(
I found that once we decided my "wedding style" all of the subsequent dresses were either okay or like-worthy. None of them made me swoon and get all teary eyed. It is possible however that I might not have given the dresses their fair chance. You see apparently designers only think of models when they design their gowns and bridal salons very rarely carry a dress in a size larger than a sample size 6. Some have as high up as a size10 or 12, but that still does me no good. You see I am a street size 12-14 making me a size 14-16 in bridal. In the wedding would that makes me a plus sized bride. That means that I have less variety to choose from and even less to try on that I can fit. So in all fairness, had each one of those dresses fit me the way it was supposed to I'm sure my opinion would have been a little different.
There was one dress that I did like that definitely caught me off guard. It was nothing like I thought I wanted but yet it was the only one that made me feel a little fuzzy inside. If I were normal and smart I would have stopped looking then and been happy with that choice. But I wasn't. The dress looked pretty on the hanger, beautiful when I held it up in from of my body and like a pillow case when I tried to put it on. Keyword: Tried. The consultant wasn't looking at sizes and gave me a size 10 (street size 6-8.) Man that gown barely made it past my shoulders. Lol.
Anywho, I liked the dress as I saw it, but was not and am still not sure I'm comfortable purchasing a dress I haven't tried on. I mean Brides do it all the time Dressilyme makes recreations of other designer's gowns and ship them to you at a fraction of the price.You just don't get to see it until it arrives at your doorstep. But that is just not for me. So I continued my search...
While there have been several close calls, I think I am finally ready to put my foot down and pull the trigger. I mean no I didn't get emotional and have some humongous reaction from my crowd companions (only 2 ppl have actually seen me in the dress,) I think I have made my decision. However, I will tell you that I think that I am an excellent candidate for dress regret but only time will tell.
Have you every been so excited to make a purchase and end up with some sort of buyers remorse? Tell me about it.
They say that not EVERY woman has that reaction and "you just might be that type of girl." My response to that is... I AM THAT TYPE OF GIRL! I want to put on a beautiful dress twirl around in front of the mirror look back at my friends and mother and just know that this gown was made for me. I want to get so emotionally choked up that I have to stop that one tear from falling down my face with the delicate touch of an heirloom hanky. I want to to be able to put MY dress on and never want to take it of. In the words of Veruca Salt "I want it NOW!"
Knowing that this would be an event, I enlisted the help of my ever so present Maid of Honor-Shauntae, Andrew's Aunt Patrice, Matron of Honor-Tamara and a few of my Bridesmaids-Allyson, Candace & Charmaine to help me in the great dress search. Over the course of 4 months, 5 bridal salons and multiple visits we were able to narrow down my choices and figure out my "wedding style." I also learned a few things as well.
1.) I'm still just as much as a Momma's girl today as I was when I was a kid. It was difficult to not have my Mother's opinion and input as I tried on those dresses.
2.) Never take more than 2 ppl with you when you try on dresses. Although to my bridesmaids defense they worked together pretty easily when it came time to pick out their dresses.
3.) I guess I'm really just not that type of girl. :o(
I found that once we decided my "wedding style" all of the subsequent dresses were either okay or like-worthy. None of them made me swoon and get all teary eyed. It is possible however that I might not have given the dresses their fair chance. You see apparently designers only think of models when they design their gowns and bridal salons very rarely carry a dress in a size larger than a sample size 6. Some have as high up as a size10 or 12, but that still does me no good. You see I am a street size 12-14 making me a size 14-16 in bridal. In the wedding would that makes me a plus sized bride. That means that I have less variety to choose from and even less to try on that I can fit. So in all fairness, had each one of those dresses fit me the way it was supposed to I'm sure my opinion would have been a little different.
There was one dress that I did like that definitely caught me off guard. It was nothing like I thought I wanted but yet it was the only one that made me feel a little fuzzy inside. If I were normal and smart I would have stopped looking then and been happy with that choice. But I wasn't. The dress looked pretty on the hanger, beautiful when I held it up in from of my body and like a pillow case when I tried to put it on. Keyword: Tried. The consultant wasn't looking at sizes and gave me a size 10 (street size 6-8.) Man that gown barely made it past my shoulders. Lol.
Anywho, I liked the dress as I saw it, but was not and am still not sure I'm comfortable purchasing a dress I haven't tried on. I mean Brides do it all the time Dressilyme makes recreations of other designer's gowns and ship them to you at a fraction of the price.You just don't get to see it until it arrives at your doorstep. But that is just not for me. So I continued my search...
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| Clip Art |
While there have been several close calls, I think I am finally ready to put my foot down and pull the trigger. I mean no I didn't get emotional and have some humongous reaction from my crowd companions (only 2 ppl have actually seen me in the dress,) I think I have made my decision. However, I will tell you that I think that I am an excellent candidate for dress regret but only time will tell.
Have you every been so excited to make a purchase and end up with some sort of buyers remorse? Tell me about it.
I Blame the Public...
The average American spends just over four hours a day watching television. That doesn’t mean that every person in this country watches four hours of TV. Some people may watch one hour, some may watch seven hours, but on the average, Americans stare at a TV screen for about four hours a day.
If you subtract eight hours from the day for sleeping, you’ll find that the average person in America spends one out of every four waking hours watching TV. And if you subtract another eight hours for work, you’ll find that Americans spend about half of their free time in front of a TV set. That's crazy!
As a female/Bride-to-be, I seem to spend three and a half of those four hours watching some form of DIY/real estate based show or reality TV or wedding planning type shows. Most of my time going to the latter.
If I am not watching it on TV, I'm online. It has become some what of a daily ritual to check in on some of my favorite planning sites and blogs such as Wedding Bee, Broke Ass Bride, The Bride's Cafe, African American Brides, Bride on a Budget just to name a few. So I think it's safe to say that I have officially been corrupted. Lol.
Recently, I went out dress scouting with a few of my bridesmaids and my Made of Honor. I say dress scouting because I had absolutely no intent on purchasing my dress that day. It was merely for amusement and if we actually did find "THE ONE" then I know where to come back to when the mister gives me the official go ahead to purchase her*. To see how that outing went click --> Here :-)
*I call my dress a her partially because most style names of wedding gowns are feminin, but mostly because it would just be too weird to say "I can't wait to put him on again!" lol. If a car can be a her so can a dress. :op
If you subtract eight hours from the day for sleeping, you’ll find that the average person in America spends one out of every four waking hours watching TV. And if you subtract another eight hours for work, you’ll find that Americans spend about half of their free time in front of a TV set. That's crazy!
As a female/Bride-to-be, I seem to spend three and a half of those four hours watching some form of DIY/real estate based show or reality TV or wedding planning type shows. Most of my time going to the latter.
If I am not watching it on TV, I'm online. It has become some what of a daily ritual to check in on some of my favorite planning sites and blogs such as Wedding Bee, Broke Ass Bride, The Bride's Cafe, African American Brides, Bride on a Budget just to name a few. So I think it's safe to say that I have officially been corrupted. Lol.
Recently, I went out dress scouting with a few of my bridesmaids and my Made of Honor. I say dress scouting because I had absolutely no intent on purchasing my dress that day. It was merely for amusement and if we actually did find "THE ONE" then I know where to come back to when the mister gives me the official go ahead to purchase her*. To see how that outing went click --> Here :-)
*I call my dress a her partially because most style names of wedding gowns are feminin, but mostly because it would just be too weird to say "I can't wait to put him on again!" lol. If a car can be a her so can a dress. :op
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Blogging Frenzy
I have decided that I am not blogging enough. This blog was mostly meant to be a DIY blog for all things wedding that I will be creating. Well my DYI'ing seems to be at a standstill and put on hold while we deal with our home buying stress.
So I have decided to use this opportunity to explore and expand on the wonderful world of planning an high saddity extravaganza on a ghetto budget. Well our budget is not exactly ghetto, but I'm trying to finagle and DIY as much stuff as I can to get more bang for my buck. I guess you can say I was like the typical little girl dreaming of her wedding day. I never had any specific, but I knew I wanted it to be beautiful. That little girl has not gone anywhere, she is just more aware of how much that dream cost.
With all of that said I encourage you all to follow me through the ups and downs of wedding planning pandemonium. Now I know there will be points down the line when you will say "Kim, why are you putting yourself through all of this stress?" and I will kindly respond "Because I like it." No I don't like the stress, but I LOVE love, I love weddings and what they symbolize and I love creative hands on things that may have made me want to pull my hair out while doing them, but turn out amazing.
So buckle up, bare with me and enjoy the ride. :o)
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| Source |
So I have decided to use this opportunity to explore and expand on the wonderful world of planning an high saddity extravaganza on a ghetto budget. Well our budget is not exactly ghetto, but I'm trying to finagle and DIY as much stuff as I can to get more bang for my buck. I guess you can say I was like the typical little girl dreaming of her wedding day. I never had any specific, but I knew I wanted it to be beautiful. That little girl has not gone anywhere, she is just more aware of how much that dream cost.
With all of that said I encourage you all to follow me through the ups and downs of wedding planning pandemonium. Now I know there will be points down the line when you will say "Kim, why are you putting yourself through all of this stress?" and I will kindly respond "Because I like it." No I don't like the stress, but I LOVE love, I love weddings and what they symbolize and I love creative hands on things that may have made me want to pull my hair out while doing them, but turn out amazing.
So buckle up, bare with me and enjoy the ride. :o)
Dry Chicken...No Bueno
So FI and I had our hearts and minds set on getting married at this GORGEOUS museum in downtown Baltimore. WE have known for months this is where we can see me walking up the stairs ans down the aisle to my handsome hubby to be standing in front of a beautiful fountain and a medieval mosaic of Adam & Eve... well things change and I'm not happy about it.
So with the use of this venue you are REQUIRED to use one of their 3 preferred caterers. One of the 3 is uber expensive and we don't want to pay that high. the second one was nice when I spoke to the manager to gather information, but is HORRIBLE at returning phone calls. and the last was by far our favorite by a landslide. The consultant was amazing the pricing was a bit high (21K for food, tables, linens, chairs etc) but none the less we had agreed that we wanting to give this company our business once we reserved the venue.
Last week we got a call from our decided caterer inviting us to a free tasting i guess to help push us to give a deposit. Maybe we have impossible expectations because we were DEVASTATED at the end result. The food was horrible. It was set up buffet style at there location (kitchen 20 feet away) and we arrived on time, but the chicken was dry, the steak was bland, the veggies almost raw. I say the best thing was the crab cake because it was jumbo lump crab meat while FI says it was the Canada Dry ginger ale. :o/
Now we have to decide if we the location of our nuptials are more important or the food. Which is more memorable. Would you as a guest be inclined to think "Gosh that was an AMAZING place to have a wedding. Everything looked so beautiful" or "Nice place but my chicken was REALLY dry and I wish it had more seasoning?"
So with the use of this venue you are REQUIRED to use one of their 3 preferred caterers. One of the 3 is uber expensive and we don't want to pay that high. the second one was nice when I spoke to the manager to gather information, but is HORRIBLE at returning phone calls. and the last was by far our favorite by a landslide. The consultant was amazing the pricing was a bit high (21K for food, tables, linens, chairs etc) but none the less we had agreed that we wanting to give this company our business once we reserved the venue.
Last week we got a call from our decided caterer inviting us to a free tasting i guess to help push us to give a deposit. Maybe we have impossible expectations because we were DEVASTATED at the end result. The food was horrible. It was set up buffet style at there location (kitchen 20 feet away) and we arrived on time, but the chicken was dry, the steak was bland, the veggies almost raw. I say the best thing was the crab cake because it was jumbo lump crab meat while FI says it was the Canada Dry ginger ale. :o/
Now we have to decide if we the location of our nuptials are more important or the food. Which is more memorable. Would you as a guest be inclined to think "Gosh that was an AMAZING place to have a wedding. Everything looked so beautiful" or "Nice place but my chicken was REALLY dry and I wish it had more seasoning?"
Monday, November 14, 2011
Bridal Party Meet and Greet
So last night we had our Official Bridal Party Meet and Greet and we had an amazing time! Food, fun and games always makes for a great evening. Unfortunately a few members of the bridal team could not be with us due to different reasons, but they were with there in spirit.
Andrew and I gave out our "Welcome To The Team" gifts and everyone LOVED them!! We found these great glasses at the store and personalized them for each person.
Even though I had verbally asked everybody (minus one) if they would stand with me when I got married, I wanted to live up to being a crafty bride and officially ask them in a memorable way. I think its safe to say my mission was accomplished.
For the ladies: (<---click here for step by step directions)
We gave them individualized cards, a personalized wine glass and decorated case.
The glasses
And the gift box:
For the men: (<--- Click the link for step by step directions)
We found these glasses in the shape of a football, laces and all, and thought they would be perfect for our groomsmen and best men. I thought about buying beer mugs, but our guys don't really do beer so these glasses seemed like a better fit.
Andrew and I gave out our "Welcome To The Team" gifts and everyone LOVED them!! We found these great glasses at the store and personalized them for each person.
Even though I had verbally asked everybody (minus one) if they would stand with me when I got married, I wanted to live up to being a crafty bride and officially ask them in a memorable way. I think its safe to say my mission was accomplished.
For the ladies: (<---click here for step by step directions)
We gave them individualized cards, a personalized wine glass and decorated case.
The glasses
And the gift box:
For the men: (<--- Click the link for step by step directions)
We found these glasses in the shape of a football, laces and all, and thought they would be perfect for our groomsmen and best men. I thought about buying beer mugs, but our guys don't really do beer so these glasses seemed like a better fit.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
DIY Update
From the moment Andrew popped the big question the wheels in my head we already turning. I had ideas for ideas. I was just waiting for an opportunity to be able to put those ideas in motion. I knew of things I had wanted to do, I had a pretty good idea of how to pull them off, but I still needed to go to the store and buy certain items. In all of my Internet wedding browsing, I found a great project that wouldn't require any money and no shopping. I could get started on it immediately. And that's just what I did.
With a little help from Drew, I created a Bridal Party Newsletter and called it "The Aisle Files." (*cue my happy dance) With all of our 14 person bridal party scattered across 4 states, I figured it was easier to create one document for all. Yeah I could have sent a mass email, but a newsletter is just a little more creative and more me. So I found an existing template online and changed and edited the format to fit my idea. It did take a while to fill in the information and to convince Andrew to write his section. So after much debate, here is the final product. What do you think?
*I'll working on figuring out how to upload word documents and when I do, I'll be sure to update this page with the attachement. Until then feel free to email me.
*I'll working on figuring out how to upload word documents and when I do, I'll be sure to update this page with the attachement. Until then feel free to email me.
Friday, November 11, 2011
And So it begins...
As most of you should know by now... WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!! After 3 and half years Andrew and I have finally decided to get married. :o) We have decided to have a fall wedding and have set the first day of the beginning of our lives as September 8, 2012.
If you know me you know that I love LOVE. I love weddings and romance and all that mushy stuff. I also am very fond of arts and crafts and plain to DIY as much as I can for our wedding. So it is my hope to use this blog to allow you all to follow along as we plan and coordinate our dream day.
I have tried and failed to be a successful and dedicated blogger before and I am really REALLY hoping I succeed with this. So please check back regularly and see what is going on in regards to our big day. :o)
Kim
If you know me you know that I love LOVE. I love weddings and romance and all that mushy stuff. I also am very fond of arts and crafts and plain to DIY as much as I can for our wedding. So it is my hope to use this blog to allow you all to follow along as we plan and coordinate our dream day.
I have tried and failed to be a successful and dedicated blogger before and I am really REALLY hoping I succeed with this. So please check back regularly and see what is going on in regards to our big day. :o)
Kim
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