Location. Location. Location!

In order to move forward with a date for the wedding (and sooooo much of the planning is dependent on the date), we have to find the wedding and reception location(s). I've checked out four wedding venues in the area and am still looking.

The best option so far is this little church about 15 minutes south of us. Today I'll just cover the chapel decorations.

Very charming exterior.

The front door to the chapel could be decorated.

It would be lovely with something like this.

Or perhaps something like this.

Of course, the ribbons would be coordinated with the wedding colors.

One of the reasons I like this option is because the initials could become
a keepsake and it does double-duty as a signal for the guests.

Interior of the chapel from the entryway.

We could decorate the aisle by adding flowers and ribbons to the pews on either side.

Or by draping tulle and flowers from the pews.

Either choice is elegant and fairly easy to accomplish.

For the altar area there are several options.

Candles plus a small flower arrangment.

I like this option for several reasons. You have the candles as keepsakes

that you could use during your first year of marriage.

Also, if you want a unity candle in your service, that would be easy to incorporate.

(photo from owlhaven)

Candles on the altar plus candles in stands.

Or just a floral arrangement, with or without unity candle.



All these options/suggestions are adaptable to other locations, but I thought I'd mention them now so you can start thinking about your preferences.

I'll try to get to the reception as soon as I can. I'm still researching the available options and tomorrow I'm on Granny duty ... my favorite pastime ... so it may be a couple of days before I can get it together. Let me know what you think.

Wedding dress update.

I ran across an article about a $4000.00 wedding and she had this to say about her wedding dress:

I was VERY hesitant to buy the dress I wanted off an Ebay seller from China, but the results were fantastic! I wish I had a picture (my dress is currently back home in NY). The dress was custom made to fit me (and it did, perfectly!) and to look just like the dress I ordered! Killian, by Mon Ceri Bridal. I didn't need to worry about wedding insurance for the dress either! The only alterations I need to make are making the dress a little more sweetheart than it is, and that cost will be FREE as my grandmother can do it! Shoes: Goodwill/ thrift stores… still need to get those! I will make my own veil with my grandmother free! She has all the supplies needed!


My dress only cost $149.50! (I just CAN"T get the picture to work though... bummer. But here's the link http://www.moncheribridals.com/item/?i=110211&collection=Mon Cheri Bridals)

I found a picture of the dress she was talking about. It IS beautiful.

I would prefer to buy a dress locally if we can find what Lindsay wants and it stays within our budget, but at least we know we can fall back on the ebay option if we need to. Some of those dresses are FABULOUS!! But thanks, TexNan, for suggesting we use caution. Better safe than sorry.

Wedding Dresses

Choices, choices!!! Even with our tight budget there are TONS of options.

Sooo. Do you want long or short? Straight, mermaid or fully flared? White or ivory? Strapless, one strap, spaghetti straps, halter top? So many choices.

The following options come from a couple of online chains and a couple of ebay top rated sellers. Look at them to decide what style you want and what color you want (ivory, white, champagne, whatever). Once you know the general style you want, we can get serious about buying a dress.

I love them all and they're in our price range. Wow!

Okay ... there are so many choices that I keep running across others I really like. So here's one more.

Thinking about bouquets

There are a lot of things to consider about bouquets.

Do you want a bouquet that you can keep forever?

The bouquets above are from etsy. The bottom two are fabric/silk flowers and the top two have a few silk flowers combined with tons of rhinestone and/or pearl brooches. One (top left) includes feathers, which I think is very pretty. All these options are lovely. And, unfortunately, out of our budget. If DB (dear bride) chooses a bouquet like this, we'll need to make it ourselves, so we'll have to factor in the time for making it and finding/making all the components. But it could be a beautiful floral arrangement and/or keepsake for many, many years to come.

Fresh flowers are the traditional choice. And, if you make the bouquet yourself and purchase the flowers from a club warehouse (in our case Sams' Club), then the price is well within budget. There are tons of tutorials on the internet, so figuring out how to make your own is a simple thing.

The options in fresh flowers are many.

Do you want a gathered group of flowers wrapped together? These almost have a topiary feel to me. A long, wrapped stem topped by a "bubble" of flowers. Sorta kinda looks like a topiary!

This type of bouquet is usually wrapped with ribbon, but the lower right bouquet is wrapped in sisal which is an interesting, casual/rustic option. The calla lilies in top right are wrapped with satin and accented with a rhinestone brooch which gives it an elegant, slightly formal look. I saw an example like this that had a blue rhinestone brooch, providing the "something blue" for the bride.

 

These bouquets are more free form, less structured. And three of them are much more colorful than the previous examples.

Even more colorful, bold bouquets, but equally lovely. In three of these examples, only one type of flower is used. Using just one flower choice in a bold color makes a stronger statement.

These softer-toned examples feel more romantic to me, but I'm pretty old-fashioned and traditional. And it's not my wedding. 

Sooooo, when choosing a bouquet, you have to choose color,  flower, ribbon, structured or free-form, soft or bold.  All these bouquets are beautiful.

It's your wedding, baby. Choose what feels right for you.

Engagement ring

Just came from a local chain store and the engagement rings were icky. If they looked nice, then it would blow the whole wedding budget.

Sooo, looking for alternatives, I checked etsy.com and found some nice alternatives. White sapphires are really pretty. And you can get a decently cut, very clear white sapphire in a silver or white gold (the bride's preference) for close to budget pricing.

Sooo, still checking options, I checked ebay.com and found several nice rings from good sellers. Many texts and calls to the bride and groom later and the winner is .... TA DAH!!

And it came in under budget. Not a bad start.