Monday, April 20, 2009

Getting the Hair Did!

Hey Guys!
We've been on the hunt for the perfect hairstyle to compliment our attire and we've been finding some great styles on the Knot for the bridesmaids. I want an updo for those who are able to achieve that look and for the bridesmaids with shorter hair, I want them to have a curly half up half down do. I have to pinpoint a half up do, any suggestions??? Which updo do you guys like best? I'm partial to the side chignon with the swirls.
Believe it or not, finding my hairstyle was the easiest! It's a Veronica Lake, Jessica Rabbit inspired hairstyle that matches the vintage look I'm going for! Check it out, I love it! Hopefully the hairstylist will be able to recreate this...
That's all for now! I'm still on the hunt, so I guess we'll have to wait for the big day to see the final looks!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Who Knew Invitations Could Be So Expensive!

Hey Guys,


Recently some of my bridesmaids and I went looking for materials to make our wedding invitations and we were definitely enlightened. After an endless amount of searching I noticed that the invitations I want are crazy expensive, like $1000 expensive for just 100! I didn't think that these pieces of paper would amount to so much, but I guess I have expensive taste :(. Luckily, to achieve the desired looks for more than half the price I have great bridesmaids who offered to help me by making them! They are the best! I'm going to show you some options of the various styles, but I'm not going to reveal the one that I picked until it's sent out to our guests. It's all about the element of surprise. The invitations do create a first impression (thanks Alex!) and I wanted them to exude elegance, modernity and style.


I thought about the color of the invitations as well and instead of being too matchy matchy I picked a color that would accent my chocolate and coral. I can't wait to make the invitations with the girls because we're going to make a fun day out of it with great foods, drinks and of course great company!

Just in case you were wondering we went...we visited the Paper Source in Virginia Highlands and found the great ideas and materials! They have a website that you can check out at http://www.paper-source.com/ .

Friday, April 3, 2009

Finding a Florist!

Hey Guys,

After a continuous effort to book a florist I finally found one, which was such a relief. I had consultations with around 5 florists and ended up picking the final one! I didn't want to attend so many appointments, but it was something that needed to be done to find a match in terms of style and cost. I'm not going to lie, this was really annoying and my bridesmaids had to motivate me to continue. I'm glad they did though because this is recommended especially if you're a bride on a budget, like me :) Many thanks go out to my wonderful bridesmaids who attended these consultations with me, giving great input as usual!

At these appointments the florist would try to get a feel for the style that we preferred and they usually ran with ideas from that. We discussed all the girly things like colors and flowers, which, let me tell you, we all learned something from these consultations because there are so many beautiful and different flowers out there! I ended up focusing more on mango calla lilies and orchids to accent the coral color. I'll give you a sneak peak into what the the bridesmaids bouquets will resemble and the groomsmen boutonnieres, aren't they lovely???




Since our wedding is going to be in the evening from 6-11pm Jon (my fiance) and I decided that we wanted to focus more on the lighting to play up the decor. Our ceremony will be outdoors in the meadow and then our reception will be held in this beautiful tent draped with white fabric and chandeliers. With that we decided that we wanted to have candles everywhere with large vases filled with water, flowers and even more candles. This would play up the romantic lighting in the tent with a more modern effect. Not only does this suit the atmosphere we're going for, but it's also a great way to cut down on costs! This is something to keep in mind because the flowers will suck up most of your funds if you don't watch out!



Below are a couple of pictures from our wedding venue at the Piedmont Garden & Tent so you can get an idea of where we're going with the decor. We absolutely love it!



































Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Getting my Gown!



Hey Guys,
I wanted to give you a peek into my search for the perfect wedding dress! I thought this would be a really tedious process, but it was surprisingly easy and I found my dress at the first boutique we went to. It was a really cute boutique by the name of La Raine's Bridal Boutique in Virginia Highlands. The owners and staff were sooo nice and I would definitely recommend this place to any bride-to-be. The dresses were beautiful and they had so many styles! Two of my bridesmaids, Ren and Tonya went with me and it was a great experience. They were really supportive bridesmaids and gave me good advice in helping me pick my dress!

I didn't post pics of my my actual wedding dress because a girl's gotta have some surprises, so check out the dresses that I liked, but didn't make the cut. We started first by pulling all the dresses that I liked and I tried all of them on, eliminating the ones that weren't my cup of tea. I tried on dresses that I never thought I would like and I'm glad I did because it helped narrow down the type of dress I wanted. I strongly suggest you do this when wedding dress shopping because it's always good to have an open mind. For instance, my wedding dress is ivory instead of the white I was set on. This may not seem like a big deal, but it was something I had to come to grips with in my head (my dress actually looks prettier in the ivory than white).

When I finally found the dress and tried it on I loved it! Ren got teary eyed and I heard an awwww from everyone...that's when I knew I found the dress (Tonya doesn't tear up so easily, but she loved the dress just the same, lol). I also tried on veils with it and narrowed down the style and length of that too! Now the only things left to complete my attire are my shoes and accessories.

As far as my hair and makeup are concerned I'm going for a different look. That topic will be another posting where I'll also explore what I want my bridesmaids hair and makeup to look like!