LBD *Long* Black Dress

After many trips to bridal stores to look for bridesmaid dresses, I have finally chosen the dress!

It all started when I was a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding and had a horrible experience with David's Bridal. Selection was amazing, but customer service was the complete opposite. So at that time as a bridesmaid, I vowed to stay clear of them when it came time to choose the bridesmaid dress of my own wedding.

One of my bridesmaids, Ashley, was visiting from Atlanta, and thought it'd be a great opportunity to start shopping for bridesmaid dresses. We met up with one of my other 'maids, Kim, and after a short and uneventful stop at Brides by Demetrios, we headed to Alfred Angelo.

Even though I didn't find the bridal gown of my dreams at Alfred Angelo, the service I received was amazing and I felt it would be a great place to order bridesmaid dresses. 

We found a dress that was beautiful, but I wasn't convinced it would look great on everyone, remember I have 9 girls will different shapes and heights! I also wanted to hack off the train, too much fabric that I visioned as a mess all together at the ceremony!

After some research, us three called it a day and went out for lunch and shopping.

The next weekend, I took one of Sean's sisters and also one of my 'maids, Brianna, back to Alfred Angelo to try on a different style of dress. I went in a completely different direction and picked three dresses that were similar from the middle of the dress down to the bottom. The idea was to allow each girl to pick the dress that would be the most comfortable and flattering to them. Each three had a corset back, which sometimes I liked, and sometimes I didn't like.

The idea was to have each girl tell me their first choice of dress and second choice of dress. In my mind I thought I'd have a few pick the first dress, a few pick the second dress, and a few pick the third dress. Turns out each of them liked the first (strapless) dress in one of their two choices. Well that threw of my logic, and actually made things a lot simpler if I could have them all in one dress. So, back to square one! 

Since I wasn't crazy about the corset back and the idea of all 10 of us having to lace up 10 corset dresses, I decided to look for another strapless dress. After looking once more on the Alfred Angelo website, I found another strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. I put it to a vote again with my girls to see if they liked the original strapless straight neck dress or the new strapless sweetheart neck dress. 

Majority of the girls said they liked the second dress - we have a winner! And it was $60 less than the first dress! Win! Win!

These Shoes Were Made for Walking

I've had my heart set on wearing hot pink heels on the wedding day for a long time. Not only is pink my absolute favorite color, it's the accent color in our wedding color scheme. With that being said, I have searched far and wide for THE pair of heels. I've seen many contenders but there are two pairs that stick out. 

Now, I'm not crazy about the idea of having patent leather shoes; however, these Gianni Bini hotties are unbelievably comfortable and super easy to walk in (even though they are 5 inches!) Two VERY important shoe aspects on such an important day! I found them at Dillards for a steal so I purchased them in case nothing more amazing comes along.

[Enter discovering Zappos' website a month later] 

I've always seen Zappos' funny commercials, the ones with super happy Muppet-like characters who absolutely love their call center customer service jobs. I admit, I'm slightly jealous of puppets! Anywho - after the jealousy had subsided, I stumbled upon these RSVP fabulous heels, which could take the lead on my patent leather beauties as favorites. I just hope they're as comfortable as the Binis! (LOVE the sequins!)

Needless to say, I ordered them (free shipping and free returns get me all the time!) Hello pair #2 of pink heels!

Regardless of what shoes don my feet, I did buy a little bling for the bottom arches - just in case I forget the answer to the big question of the day (just kidding!) but I did think it was a cute "something blue" idea ...

The outcome of the shoe decision will be known on the wedding day. Stay tuned!

Florida Engagement Photos Are Here!

Erin Sintos did a phenomenal job with our Florida engagement photos! 

Check them out here: Florida Engagement Photos

Also, go see Erin's Tin Can Photography blog entry dedicated to us here:  

Tin Can Photography Blog

Erin's photography information can also be viewed at her webpage here: 

Tin Can Photography Website

Engagement In Florida (Teaser)

Sean and I have been so lucky to have friends that have turned into photographers. We decided when we took our Georgia engagement pictures that we also wanted Florida engagement pictures to incorporate both our states. We just did not know when we'd get around to taking more pictures. When I heard the news of my friend Erin Sinto's being in the Tampa area and looking to build her photography portfolio, for her new business Tin Can Photography, we jumped at the opportunity and booked an engagement session. It was scheduled for New Year's Day at Clearwater Beach.

Erin and her husband Bryan met us in Clearwater and it was 76 degrees that first day of 2011. Although the ocean temperature was 54 degrees, we still braved it and took a few water shots on that beautiful day! Erin and Bryan were absolutely great and we are SO excited to see all the pictures! She sent me a sneak peek a few days later and we could not be happier! Here are a few pictures...

 

 

 

Save the Dates

It's been almost a month since we've mailed out our Save the Dates, so I feel that I can officially show them off here! All were made by me and I have good ol' Martha Stewart to thank for the number/envelope inspiration! After setting my heart on that idea, I realized I had no idea how to get those cute numbers and embossed envelopes. (Cue the MANY trips to JoAnne's) 

I soon became an owner and expert of a Cricut and Cuddlebug. And boy did they take longer than I expected. After about the 20th one, I was starting to ask myself, "What have you got yourself into?" Oh well, they were just too cute to give up on!

Here they are all ready to go to the post office.

The final product ...

Save the Date - as you pull the little bow and open the envelope, out comes the date!

The finished product complete with a magnet on the card backing and on the last digit.

Getting Down to Wedding Business

The time had come for Sean and I to make a trip to Georgia  to start official wedding business. Our first mission was to check out hotels, restaurants, and shopping in the town of LaGrange, Georgia. Since LaGrange is only 15 minutes away from Hogansville (where the wedding venue is) we thought it would be a perfect city to host our guests for the wedding weekend. 

We stayed overnight at the Wingate by Windam Callaway Gardens hotel. Which was beautiful and newly constructed. Features include rooms either with carpet or hardwood flooring, flat screen TVs, refrigerators, microwaves, and a continental breakfast each morning. We thought it would be a great weekend escape for our guests so we made it our official wedding hotel!

The city was great too! Besides all the common restaurants and stores, LaGrange offers Callaway Gardens and the Pine Mountain Animal Safari nearby.

The next day Sean and I to had our first meeting with our wedding planner/coordinator Vickie Brown, who also owns our venue Victoria Belle. The mansion was decorated so beautifully for Christmas!  Us three definitely hit the ground running and we left with three pages of "To Dos" before our next appointment in February. I brought my inspiration board along and felt a little, well, obsessed and one of THOSE crazy brides! To my surprise, Vickie LOVED the board and it actually helped translate my vision of the big day to her. 

After our meeting with Vickie, it was time to meet our potential photographer, Karen Ann Yontz of Mac and Cheese Photography. We met at the Dancing Goat in Decatur - a swanky Starbucks lookalike with a less commerical feel to it. We talked for over an hour with Karen Ann and definitely hit it off. We then took our conversation to the Brick Store Pub where the beer selection was outrageous and contracts were signed for her to be our wedding photographer! 

Needless to say, it was a very successful 24 hours!

Inspiration

As the bridal magazines stack up so do the ideas! I've been cutting out pictures for inspiration since even before the bling graced the finger! After hundreds of clips and cuts, I started seeing everything coming together in one direction. To get organized, I bought a foam board and started spreading out my ideas to get one clear picture. It's a work in progress, and some pictures are blacked out/pixeled to keep a few details under wraps, but here it is so far...

Of course these are only ideas and things will differ; however, I am excited to see how much of it comes to life on our wedding day!