-- Chic Affordable Wedding Dresses --

I know it's not Wedding Wednesday, but I was playing around on Polyvore this morning trying to come up with an outfit to post and when I put in The Limited, I came across these...

Did you know that The Limited offered wedding dresses? Wish I had known this when I was looking!!! These are great! Below are just two examples, but there are plenty more.
They also offer event dresses, wedding party dresses, and wedding guest dresses. I really didn't know they offered all these things.

This is a cute little black one... off the shoulder, could be used with the off the shoulder wedding dress featured above.

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I think I must be thinking white in preparation for the supposed snow storm that is coming tonight/tomorrow!  Yay! 

Happy Monday!

-- Tools I Use To Get Me Through --

Today I'd like to introduce you to the ever constant tools that I've been using throughout this planning process. I'm sure you know of them... probably because I've mentioned them... or because you already use them, but never-the-less they are very useful.

The Knot --

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Theknot.com has so many great features. It offers you a place to keep track of a budget, a guest list, and there's really no need for a planner anymore because it offers up a checklist to you to keep you on track! I check on my checklist every other day. It splits it up easily so that tasks are manageable and not overwhelming. Love The Knot! Don't be afraid to use it's wealth of resources of ideas and pictures as well!

I Do It Yourself --

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I Do It Yourself offers great templates and DIY ideas for any occasion. I've found that this not only keeps me wedding savvy, but it also gives me ideas for outside the wedding which is always good at this point in the game. This is a fairly new found fave!

Martha Stewart --

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I love anything Martha! Hence the name! ;) She's my fave. She's got anything and everything that you may or may not need. I love the Martha Stewart Wedding's site. Those wedding's are just gorgeous! Then there is the Martha Stewart Crafts site (which is where I'm doing my invites from) and it's also to die for! You name it and they've got it! Love! Love! Love!

Michaels --

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Don't be afraid to befriend Michaels craft store. They have a lot of what you might need. I have used so many things from there. Although, I did just take a huge amount of items back the other day...let them be your friend. They always come in handy. They can always be a back up...AND THEY CARRY MARTHA STEWART CRAFTS! Ha-ha.

Any Wedding Magazine --

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All the wedding magazines are a must when you are planning. I must admit that I think I went a little overboard. I probably have at least a hundred. Mike used to joke when I'd buy another one..."ANOTHER wedding magazine?!?!" And I'd be like "YES!" My favorites are Southern Weddings (unique ideas), Bride and Bloom, and Grace Ormond Weddings -- These are distinct wedding magazines. Others are The Knot and Brides.

Excel --

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Excel is your friend. Know it and love it. Use it for budgets unless you can find one tailored to your needs online. I had to make one myself. I made one with deposits, 2nd set of $ sent, remaining due, and total spent columns. I wanted to make sure I tracked all money spent, sent, and whatnot. Although I'm not sure how good of a job I'm doing. loll.

My Calligraphy Set --

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I read somewhere that you should handwrite your invitations so of course I have to do that now. So I went to Borders and bought a $7 calligraphy set. I love handwriting and doodling (got that from my mom) so I figured I'd be good at it. I wish mine looked like Penned and Pretty's Sassy Styles, but my own mix of cursive and calligraphy pen stylings will have to do! Anyways, it's a good $7 well spent if you want to personalize one more part of your wedding.

Check out the above style from another blogger!

Blogger --

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Finally BLOGGER! My Blog has helped me through the process. While I don't really know that anyone is out there reading it...It's helped me! It lets me vent some days, it lets me be creative others, and then some days it just lets me share. I love it. I've even set up another blog for after the wedding. We'll see how that one goes! Exciting! I recommend blogging the process to anyone and everyone! It's a great retreat to all of those out there planning!

Happy Planning!  Hope this helped!

Checklists will never go away!

I feel like I'm getting nothing done when I look at my knot.com checklist.  It's got so many things with ticking timebombs and undone items!  Then I go through the items. 

• Start taking better care of yourself. Get in wedding day shape by eating right, joining a gym, and/or even hiring a personal trainer.  -- Started.  I think the Mini Marathon Training should work on this...now if we could only get Mike on board. 
• Sign your catering contract and send in a deposit.  -- You have to use the caterer that goes with the reception hall and we've already talked to them.  Probably need to discuss deposits with them soon. 
• Envision your wedding flowers and set up appointments with wedding florists in the area to discuss options. -- I think I'm going to tackle this myself with a mix of silk and fresh and the inspriation of JL designs. 
• Start looking for and auditioning local reception bands or DJs. -- This is all in Mike's hands.  He was supposed to call the DJ 2 weeks ago.  I'd better lay down the law soon. 
• Set up appointments with various florists to discuss options.  -- Maybe we'll call for a bouquet.  I love the bouquet seen here. 
• Decide on your officiant and set up a meeting to plan the wedding ceremony and talk about any religious requirements (such as premarital counseling).  -- We are doing the Catholic Ceremony (so far).  I'm hoping for no more glitches, but we'll see.  I feel like they are all over along the way.  Ugh.  Next step is meeting with the big priest to go over our FOCUS results...hopefully we are semi-compatible. 
• Choose your florist and send a deposit to reserve their services. -- I choose me, ikea, some rentals, some ti leaves, some orchids, some succulents, some manzanita trees, and some other green flowers.
• Have engagement photos taken (if you want). This is a great opportunity to get comfortable with your photographer before the wedding day.  -- Going to get another set done.  It came with our "package" through Amanda Wilcher Photoghraphers.  I can't wait to get to see Amanda and Kyle again before the big day and get some AMAZING pictures taken!
• Start researching ceremony musicians in your area and listening to demos. Also start forming an idea of what style of ceremony music you want, and any specific songs you’re looking for.  -- I think this comes with the church, but it's on a list of questions to ask next Friday!
• Book your reception band or DJ, sign the reception music contract, and send a deposit. -- MIKE!!!
• Set aside blocks of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests.  -- Another Mike Task since I have no negotiating skills whatsoever!
• Fill out your wedding registry, and don't forget to include some choices appropriate for your upcoming bridal shower. -- I filled out some Crate and Barrel items last week as you can see from recent postings!  I heart that store.  Next up Bed Bath and Beyond and Macy's.  :)
• Start planning the rehearsal dinner. Look for rehearsal dinner sites in your area and provide the host with contact information for your attendants and any other guests. -- Darla is going to do this although I have some great ideas.  Maybe those will be in some upcoming posts! 
• Start working on your invitation wording and design. -- The invitations are done they just need to be printed and put together!  And some of the extra pieces need to be ordred, but this could be checked off. 
• Finalize your invitation wording. -- goes with above.
• Finalize the reception menu and service details with the caterer. -- The menu is about finished...I think we just need to sit down with the Caterers and decide what is best and taste everything a bit.  I can't wait for that part.  :) 

So basically everything is checked or at least halfway checked off. I feel like there is so much more to do than this list though and I can't even begin to fathom how it will all come together, but hopefully it will.  I feel like i'm doing a really good job on my own.  I think the next things to order are going to be the flower girl dresses and the bridesmaid shoes!  I'll post on those soon! 

Until next time! 

Finally Something Good!

A quick post!

I came across this gallery today. Kachmann Gallery is a contemporary fine art gallery, but I just love the look inside! How could you not love this?!

Finally something good to come out of Fort Wayne! I’m so excited! While I still haven’t found a ceremony site, I’ve inquired on this one! LOVE!

When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.~Nora Ephron – When Harry Met Sally

~M

Wedding Planning Trip Home Part II (Bakeries — Boo)

Then we went to Hall’s Takes the Cake. Bad Customer Service. That’s all I have to say. We weren’t even greeted. We were told to sit down. Most placese ask if you are there for an appointment or will say “oh, are you (last name or first name)?” No, Nothing, Notta! We got “Sit Down.” THEN…when I showed them a picture of the cake I am looking at they told me I would have to provide a part of it and I asked why. “Well, because we don’t make those…they aren’t edible you know.” Oh, I said…well, actually these ones are, but that’s ok. The lady was VERY Rude to me about these darn brooches which Cakegirls made. I watched them do it on Amazing Wedding Cakes. If you go to their website it’s the last cake on the second page of wedding cakes. It’s got three big bows with brooches in the middle of them. I LOVE THIS CAKE!!! It looks vintage and elegant and when I saw it I had to have it.

But when I said they were edible the ladies behind the counter were then fairly nasty to me and asked “well then how did they make them?!?!” I said, well I don’t remember exactly, but with some sort of sugar base, sugar pearls, and then they were dusted with silver sugar dust. I just couldn’t believe they couldn’t come up with something. Make a sugar cookie and decorate it for all I care! I probably wouldn’t know the difference. Needless to say, we won’t be buying a cake from them. And the icing was awful! The almond cake was good, but the icing was awful. Sorry Hall’s takes the cake, but you are out for me.

Then on Saturday, we headed over to the Nutcraker Sweet Shoppe (no website). FAIL. I had called earlier in the week and was told that they didn’t take appointments. At that point of the call I was hung up on. I should have taken that as a sign. I was asking the weekend hours before I figured out that no one was on the other line anymore. So I called back and they told me 9-5 on Friday and 9-6 on Saturday. Easy enough… We went at 3 on Saturday and they were closed. What?!? Are you kidding me?!? I called and checked and you told me you’d be open! So my mom headed up to the door because she saw someone walking around in there. She opened the door which was apparently still unlocked and asked if we could come in thinking that maybe they had just closed and the girl says, “WE ARE CLOSED!” So my mom explained that I had called and was told that they were open until 6 and I had driven 2 hours to get there and blah blah blah and the girl goes, “Well I am leaving.” Again…Needless to say, we won’t be buying a cake from you either.

So the cake hunt continues. At least there’s time for this.

Brooch cakes are my fave! Here are some other beautiful cakes to look at below!

Wedding Planing Trip Home Part I (Reception Venue)

I need my own computer. Seriously. At this moment, my fiance and I share. That has got to change soon. I may just have to splurge. Problem is…I’M TRYING TO SAVE FOR A WEDDING!

I went home this past weekend and had crazy bad luck. I’m sure many of you are in the same boat as me — planning a wedding from another city. Did your dad tell you “You will get married (insert city name here)?” Well dad, if you are reading this, I’m sorry but you did. It’s ok, but it’s making things very difficult.

While Fort Wayne is only 1 hour and 45 min away from Indianapolis, parts of it may be 10-15 years behind. I’m sorry, but it is. It’s working on it but this is making my “dream wedding” a bit harder than once anticipated. Reception venues were harder to find. Ceremony sites are proving to be very tircky. I’m still plugging away at it though. Cake makers…well, that’s a-whole-nother blog. I haven’t attempted florists yet. Thank god for Etsy, SMP, and Wedding Chicks or I’d be lost and gone forever!

But while I was home this weekend, I had a goal of finding a cake shop, a ceremony site or a church, a place to get suits for the gusys and anything else that we could do. I also had to stop at the reception venue to ACTUALLY see it. Up to this point, my mom was the only one who had seen it. It’s Gorgeous! The Philmore on Broadway was originallyy opened in 1923 as the Broadway Theater. See the pictures below as it’s still undergoing a bit more renovation from being a straight restaurant. I love it! now it’s going to be a Jazz Club and Events Center! Lucky for me because this place is a Gem!

*M*

Bridesmaid Cards Part 1

While my bridesmaid cards are not finished, I did want to post on the progress I’ve made on them.

I finally decided on the dresses which was huge for me! My colors are going to be chocolate (changed from acorn) and chartreuse. It was hard for me to justify my girls spending an arm and a leg on a dress I knew they’d never wear again if it was a shade of lime green so I decided to go with the chocolate and I figured that J Crew dresses would have a better shot at being worn again than many others. So…my girls have their options of Gracen, Lorelei, or Clementine in the chocolate color.

Here’s what I’m sending them to let them know this.

“You Choose” Bridesmaid Cards
They aren’t quite done yet, but they are getting there. At the bottom I’m going to add a little personalized note to each and explain that each needs to be ordered in chocolate. I think I may also add a little more sass to the cards too. I’ll post the final product soon. :)

The Drama of the Dresses

So we began looking for a dress at the beginning of June. We started at The Bride to Be in Fort Wayne, In. I immediately fell in love with this store. The ambiance and service at this store are unbeatable. We tried on about 12-15 dresses. I think the 3rd dress we tried on was a beautiful Augusta Jones dress with one shoulder strap and an asymetrical layered look to it. It’s shown below without should strap. Everyone in the store loved this one, along with my mom and grandma.

The last dress I tried on at The Bride To Be was “Jillian” by Melissa Sweet which I had seen in an ad and told my mom that if that dress was there when we walked in I was tryin it on no matter the price! Little did I know I’d fall in love with a $4500 dress. I’m sure it happens to many brides, but it really stinks when it happens to you.

I left without any dresses and acknowledged the fact that I had my “moment” in my dress that was hanging on the rack at The Bride To Be on Broadway in Fort Wayne, Indiana and probably would not be making an appearance at my wedding…and I was ok with that because I’m not the type of person to spend that kind of money on anything — I’m always searching for a better deal. So the search continued…

At the end of June — actually the last weekend in June — I visited Nancy’s Bridal Boutique in Indianpolis with my friend Stacey. I think it was our last stop of the day and I could not believe how many dresses we had tried on up to that point. We came across a sample sale Watters dress that fit, looked good, and was a steal at more than 50% off the price it would have been if ordered new! SOLD!!! My mom came down from Ft. Wayne the next day to OK it and I had my wedding dress! YAY!!!

Well for some reason the Jillian dress kept coming up while talking about the wedding. I’d send my mom emails of places I’d found it for sale and vice versa. We kept finding bridesmaid dresses that went well with that dress so it never really left our minds, but I still didn’t figure we’d find it so I’d kind of moved on. Then about a week ago my mom called and said that she had gotten and email back from Destiny’s Bridal in Arizona saying they had the Jillian dress available in a size 8 in ivory and for $800. SOLD AGAIN!!! My mom purchased the dress over the phone and now I’m the owner of 2 wedding dresses! Man are we some kinda bargain shoppers!

The Front of Jillian (not me in it)
Some parts of my wedding are starting to come together! So excited to be wearing the Jillian dress down the isle… I feel like a STAR in it! lol. And Now it’s off to get it cleaned, altered, and find shoes and accessories! Those blogs will be very sassy and very enjoyable! I already have my eye on some very sassy shoes…as every girl ALWAYS does!
-M-

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Websites:
The Bride to Be — http://www.thebridetobeonline.com/ ; Nancy’s Bridal — http://www.nancy/ ; Destiny’s Bridal — http://www.destinysbride.com/

The Bride to Be vs The Perfect Dress -- No Comparison!

Hands Down The Bride to Be WINS!

I had made 2 appointments online for The Bride to Be and The Perfect Dress. We got to The Bride to Be at 11am and I was not excited. Even looking at the dresses I was not excited, but when the first dress was on ... WOW. I was like this is actually not too bad and this dress is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!!! The Bride to Be carried many different kinds of dresses but it was narrowed down to an Augusta Jones, a Melissa Sweet, and a Carolina DeVilla. They were all amazing. I love the Melissa Sweet but it's a bit pricey so I'm still trying to decide.

I just want to say that Sarah at The Bride to Be was AMAZING! The selections were AMAZING! The store is beautiful! It's probably the classiest, most modern, chicest, shop in all of Fort Wayne. Their set up was great; They had it all! Shoes, Facinators, Veils, Ring Pillows, Bridesmaids dresses, Gowns, Jewelry, Magazines and the Seamstress even bustled a dress for me in like 30 seconds with pins and it was GORGEOUS!!! Every dress I tried on made me feel like a size 2! They are an amazing store that I hope will be around FOREVER! It made me feel like I was in Chicago at a Haute Couture Bridal Shoppe. They've really done a GREAT job with their store!

**** Visit them online at http://www.thebridetobeonline.com/ or at their store located at

2809 Broadway, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46807****

THEN we went to The (I'm not sure who this is the) Perfect Dress (shop for).Or maybe more like the perfect dress if you want to look like every other bride in Fort Wayne. I walked into the dress room and was having a hard time finding 3 that I liked. I selected 3 and then the woman helping us kept bringing us dresses she thought we'd like, but honestly I didn't like any of them. Then she kept asking me which were my favorites, but because they all looked exactly alike I couldn't keep them straight! Plus, she kept putting me in dresses that needed a Trumpet skirt under them and that is not happening! I was sweating in the room so can you imagine the uncomfortable sweating that would be happening next June?!!?!

Anyways, my mom and grandma kept accessorizing and saying "Oh I love this" or "No I hate that" but kept giving me the impression that they were actually liking some of these dresses. I was trying to figure out how to break it to them that I didn't like a single one. I think at one point I even lipped to my mom, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" Honestly, it wasn't that bad and the woman was nice...this just wasn't the place for me. When we go to the car, my mom said wait until we get in because they are probably watching us and I was a bit confused. When we all shut the doors it was like we just let loose. My mom was like some of those were hideous, and she just kept bringing them. My grandma was like you didn't really like any of those did you Abby?!?! And I was like NO!!! And I don't know how they were chosen the best bridal shoppe or whatever in Fort Wayne.

It was a priceless moment that I wish I had on camera! I'm lucky to have these 2 crazy ladies that are usually pretty good with fashion, class, and uniqueness.

1st Venue was a Home Run!

Now that I am the Bride to be, I only felt it fitting that I actually start working on getting some items chosen for this event.

I wanted a very different unique feel for my wedding. One that is something you don't see every other wedding in Fort Wayne. I found this was very hard to do with everything in Fort Wayne being older and dated (according to my standards). I was not looking forward to looking at venues. I had made appointments at 2 places and was sure that one of those would be the winner because it had to be. However the night before I headed home to the Fort, my mom called and said she'd made an appointment at the Brand NEW Parkview Field.

Boy am I glad we went! It was settled! That was easy! But we still had to go to the other places to look...UGH. But we did and it just sealed the deal that we were going to reserve the stadium.