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Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:21 pm
by Gravity Defier
I've been waiting for some sort of update, woman.
Finding friends/family that will be willing and able to help with the creative side of things
I wish!

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 4:25 pm
by LilBee91
Alea, you can be my virtual creative consultant if you want. I can provide lots of pictures! (In theory)
Steph, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions about party planning for you. I have no idea about any of these things and don't really want to spend the money to hire a pro. I have friends who would be willing to take care of day-of things if I can get it mostly organized beforehand, I think. But we are still in the musing stage so I don't know what any of it will end up like.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:48 pm
by Gravity Defier
Alea, you can be my virtual creative consultant if you want. I can provide lots of pictures! (In theory)
Deal! :mrgreen:

(And if you can't provide pictures, it ain't no thing. What with being busy with life and wedding planning and all.)

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:26 pm
by elfprince13
Courtney and I went to our first wedding as an engaged couple and did some strategic sight-seeing. Not quite planning, but the first thing that sorta feels that way.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:47 pm
by LilBee91
A few days...two weeks. Pretty much the same thing, right? I guess a couple brief updates before I regale you with the not-even-remotely-dramatic story of wedding dress shopping.

The talk with the parents went better and worse than I was hoping--a little more emotional than I would have liked, but they're still very supportive of me. We still need to have a chat about money, because apparently these things cost way more than they reasonably should. My parents paid for most of one brother's wedding, but his wife had a lot of talented friends who offered to do things like cook dinner, make the cake, take photos, decorate, etc., so there wasn't a ton left to pay for. So I don't know if they have any concept of how spendy things can get. Then again, mom was surprised to spend less than $1000 on my dress and veil, so maybe they do. (Upon reflection, I probably could have made my own veil for cheaper but they gave us $50 off for buying with the dress so it wasn't that much more).

Mr. Pants and I are going to visit a few venues on Monday--only one of them needed an appointment, but he wanted to confine the torture to one afternoon. The one place I mentioned before is still a favorite, but I was worried that it may be too big and look ridiculous with less than 100 people, so I found another option. It's a bit more expensive, but they are more flexible about decorating before our reserved time so we might not have to book it for as long. And it has a full kitchen, which could come in handy. The third place we are looking is for the ceremony site. They have a reception hall at the same palce, but it doesn't have a ton of great spots for pictures or much of a view. (Why I care about a nice view when the reception is most likely going to be after dark, I don't know, but I want a pretty place, dang it!) Anyway, the ceremony place is a greenhouse, which looks nice in pictures but may or not be so great in real life. And I don't know how warm a greenhouse is in the dead of winter... I would like to find a church or something, but there aren't a ton of gorgeous churches around here and we aren't affiliated with any of them, so I don't know if we can find one that would work or not. Alternatively, we could use the reception place as a ceremony site as well. But then I feel like we have to have them back to back and I kind of want a break between. Hopefully I'll have a better idea after our adventures on Monday.

On to the dress shopping!

I only went to one shop, I only went there once, and I only tried on a total of nine dresses. And yes, that has caused me a bit of anxiety because What if I missed the perfect dress because I didn't look long enough?! But that's the crazy talking. Really, I didn't find any reason wedding dress shopping had to be a dramatic affair. I wanted one that I liked, looked good, and could actually feel like myself in (as much as one can in a wedding dress). I didn't know what to expect, but I was determined to make a decision because, knowing me, I would debate over three dresses forever if I let myself (plus this place discounted the dress if you bought it your first visit). I've watched my fair share of Say Yes to the Dress, but I didn't see myself bursting into tears over the perfect gown any time soon. I brought just my parents--I'm the only daughter, so it was up to put them through that rite of passage. My two best friends were in two different states, so I messaged them photos that my mom took to involve them. The consultant was relatively new, so she was getting a lot of help from another lady, but she was good. Again, I didn't know what to expect from the consultant, but I was glad she wasn't pushy and was patient with me wanting to try on the same dresses 2-3 times.

They didn't have the one dress I fell in love with online, even in the bigger size that was available when I called the previous weekend. I was disappointed in that, but we found quite a few options that weren't that similar but were equally pretty. The first one I tried on was really quite awful. (Side note: one of my facebook friend's wife had the same dress and it looked stunning on her--it just wasn't for me). As my mom tactfully put it: "Are you supposed to like the first one you try on?" It was a bit disheartening, but the next one looked great so it made up for it. Note: nothing makes you more self-conscious about your body than wedding dresses. They all fit, for the most part, but some zippers were a lot more difficult to zip than others, and some tops were way too baggy. Still, none of the other dresses looked anywhere near as bad as the first one, so my ego wasn't too bruised. There were three dresses I really liked, especially once I threw on the veil. One, I decided was just a little too boring and I didn't particularly like the accessory beaded belts they had. The other still pains me a little that I didn't get, but I wanted white (not ivory) and just couldn't decide if all-over lace was really my style. The one I chose wasn't a style I ever thought I would like, but I kind of love it. It's a little bit different, but nothing crazy. Plus, it will prevent major freezing in the winter. Also, it has a train. Who would have thought I would ever love a dress with a train?

Now, for the pictures! (Sorry for the quality of the first two--my mom isn't very well-practiced in cell phone photos)

The dress I liked, but chose against (I should probably delete this photo so I don't feel sad, but I like pictures I look good in--wow, that sounds way more conceited than I intended):
Image

The dress I chose, with the veil:
Image

Details of the dress, that I adore:
Image Image

And a mirror shot I took in my messy bedroom the night after I bought it. I was freaking out about making such a rash decision and had to remind myself that I liked it.
Image

So, I have had a dress for two months now. I hopefully won't need any major alterations besides a hem and bustling the train. It is a pretty tight dress and won't be very forgiving if I put on weight in the next 4.5 months, but I think I should be okay. And I think I need to get one of those slips with a hoop on the bottom (whatever they're called). Yay for spending more money!

I'm debating getting/making a colored belt for it, or maybe a beaded one if I can find one that is white, not silver, so it matches the neckline beading. I am quite fond of it the way it is, but it does have a non-pleated part that sort of begs for a belt or sash. And I can't decide what to do with my hair. I originally envisioned a half-up style, but the super-high back kind of warrants a full updo. Any people with actual style have opinions on that front?

Only bad things about it: no pockets and I have no idea how I am going to pee.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:42 pm
by Wind Swept
:thumbs:

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:16 pm
by steph
:stamp:

Love both of the dresses, really love the one you chose.

I really, really, really wish I could be there to help do/make stuff to help cut costs!!

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:26 pm
by Gravity Defier
You look amazing. :mrgreen:

Love your drama-free philosophy on this. Can't wait to hear more!

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 2:33 pm
by Young Val
Your dress is gorgeous! You look absolutely lovely.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:01 pm
by steph
My friends and I became a bit more official in our future party planning business today since we named ourselves and grabbed every blog, etsy, pinterest, etc., that we could with or name: Ampersand Affairs.

If you want to do some long distance consulting, we'd love to help. The girls want to have an arm that is focused on parties by mail, so we could totally mail/email you stuff we create.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:09 pm
by LilBee91
Thanks folks!

Steph, that is way cool. And I love the name. When my brain gets settled enough to have questions besides "where are we going to have this thing?" I will probably bug you a lot.

Update on the venue hunt: We love the greenhouse for the ceremony. It's a good size, needs minimal decoration (we may hang some Christmas lights), and is relatively cheap. The only downside is that it's a bit of a walk from the car, so (depending how much snow there is) I may have to wear boots and switch into my heels, and my dress could get totally trashed. We may end up taking pictures beforehand just for that reason.

The reception site is still up in the air. There are a couple places that I like, but I just can't fathom spending that much money for a room (even at the discounted off-season non-Saturday rate). This morning I discovered a building the city rents out for way cheap (comparatively). It's not the fanciest place and will require a bit more decorating than I would love, but I could rent it for two whole days and decorate the day before for less than half the price of the other places. And working a little more to decorate isn't quite worth that much money to me. The only downside: they aren't renting for 2014 until October. So far I'm the only one who has called about the 3rd, but they give all their recurring folk priority for reservations so I won't know if we can get it for at least another month. Which means one of the places I looked at will definitely be gone and possibly the others, and we may not have a back-up if the city building gets booked. But considering the city building is about the cost of the non-refundable booking fees at the other places, I think I'm willing to chance it. Or maybe we'll all just get crammed in my parent's basement and play air hockey all night.

Or we'll screw it all and have a party at the bowling alley. Dirty, yes, but it's a party. (We briefly considered renting out one of those places with the giant inflatable slides/obstacle courses/etc., but realized they only rent for kids' parties).

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:11 pm
by Petra456
Or maybe we'll all just get crammed in my parent's basement and play air hockey all night.

Or we'll screw it all and have a party at the bowling alley. Dirty, yes, but it's a party.
I would enjoy the heck out of both of those receptions!

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:20 pm
by LilBee91
Any aspiring Pweb photographers want to come shoot my wedding for a free winter trip up to Alaska? Wedding photographers are ridiculously expensive...

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:13 pm
by buckshot
Every time I'm around home I can't get near the tv in the house cuz they're all watching the stupidest lamest bridesmaid shows from hell (they all have fruitcakes on em and I mean real flamers here) and have been thinking that somebody is planning a wedding. Will I always be the last to know?

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:22 pm
by steph
I would do it in a heartbeat if I had a nice

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:38 pm
by Gravity Defier
I would do it in a heartbeat if I had a nice
Oh, Steph. You do have a nice. You have a whole lot of nice.

:mrgreen:

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:43 pm
by LilBee91
I would do it in a heartbeat if I had a nice
Oh, Steph. You do have a nice. You have a whole lot of nice.

:mrgreen:
What she said. :stoned:

But if you wanted to borrow someone's fancy camera, we could make it happen.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:55 pm
by LilBee91
Okay Pwebbers (mainly steph, since you cook party food for fun, but I'll take any and all help I can get), I need food advice.

We are planning on self-catering our reception dinner. Our favorite idea thus far is a pasta buffet/bar--basically a build-it-yourself meal with different pastas, sauces, and mix-ins. I thought it would be a relatively low-maintenance food idea (at least day-of since the only thing that would really need to be cooked that day would be the pasta), but now I'm not so sure. The main issue: our reception venue doesn't have a full kitchen. It has a good-sized warming table (I think that's what it's called) and enough outlets to use crock pots for sauces, but not really anywhere to cook pasta. My parents' house is only 10-15 minutes from the reception hall, so we could cook pasta there and then bring it over, but that seems like it could be a bit more a hassle than it's worth. I've read a few how-to blogs and while none of them made the pasta fresh for every person, they also didn't have transport the cooked pasta from further away than the next room.

Have any of you had experience with anything like this? Any ideas on how to make it work? Is there a good way to keep pasta warm or reheat it without over-cooking it? Can warming tables get hot enough to boil water? Can I just rely on super-hot sauces to warm up noodles that were cooked a half hour before? How picky are people about imperfectly-cooked pasta? (I happily munch on pasta at all stages of cooking, so I am a terrible judge).

Would it be better pre-mix the pastas and sauces and just have people choose their own mix-ins? Or should we just forget pasta and go for lasagna? Or order some big trays of pasta from Olive Garden and call it a day? I like the pasta bar idea, but I'm not a noodle-pro and don't really want that to ruin the whole thing... If any of you have genius ideas, I will love you forever.

If all else fails, I'll just call in some pizzas and give up on being fancy. All we really need is some cheese in the meal and we'll be happy.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 3:38 pm
by steph
So sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet, Shannon! (we were out of town for a bit, and halloween craziness and such.)

Anyways, this is what I would recommend: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-hold-pasta- ... 27049.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you don't feel like that will work for you, let me know and we can brainstorm some more.

And thanks for thinking that I've got a lot of nice. I sure try! :)

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:22 am
by Gravity Defier
So...Shannon got married last week. I shall sit around, semi-patiently looking forward to pictures and stories. :hatsoff:

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:26 am
by Young Val
Ahhh! Hooray Shannon!

Yes, please, pictures and recaps and so forth! Once things have settled down, naturally. :D

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:07 pm
by LilBee91
We are in the midst of moving into an apartment, so things have been a little crazy. But once we get furniture and internet I'll do a nice re-cap post. And probably post some apartment pictures in the nesting thread (or whatever it's called). In the meantime, if any of you want to see a bajillion pictures, send me a PM and I'll give you the link/password to the online album.

It still doesn't feel like I'm actually married. I wonder when that will hit.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 7:04 pm
by elfprince13
We have a location!

Ceremony:
Image

Reception:
Image

And save the date cards:
http://www.storkie.com/p-130601-hedgeho ... -card.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And possibly invitations:
http://www.minted.com/product/wedding-i ... ity-beyond" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 8:22 pm
by elfprince13
less than 2 months to go! This weekend we had the tasting to plan out the menu, and visited my grandparents to hash out the schedule for the reception a bit (dunno if I mentioned this already, but my grandfathers are co-officiating).

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 8:56 am
by starlooker
Eeee! Very close!

By the way, the venues look great. The one where the ceremony will be held is just gorgeous.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:35 am
by Claire
Me, to myself: if Pweb were more active these days, I'd bump the wedding planning thread

Also me, to myself: I'm going to do it anyway!

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:14 pm
by Gravity Defier
:thumbs:

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:48 pm
by steph
Congrats!

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:30 pm
by thoughtreader
Yay! :stoned:

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:30 am
by Claire
Thanks, friends!

Wedding planning is going relatively well, except that we alternatively shift between "this is an important day to us let's get what we want" and "omg this is all adding up very fast" (with Rob more of the former, and me more of the latter). I think everything will work itself out though.

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 9:37 pm
by Gravity Defier
Help?

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 8:44 pm
by Noodle
I saw on Twitter that you said you got engaged. Didn't feel right to say congratulations anywhere else but here in this thread. So, congratulations!

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 9:46 pm
by Gravity Defier
Thank you. :)

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Wed May 22, 2019 6:34 pm
by thoughtreader
:party:
:frolic: :dance: :frolic:
:party:

Re: Wedding Planning!

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 9:49 pm
by Gravity Defier
Only took a few months but I think I may have my engagement ring chosen. :)

I have my eye on a venue, photographer, and caterer, too.

Some music has been chosen.

I hope it doesn't get too stressful down the road. It's going well enough right now.