Darn it!!

So yesterday we decided to journey out to Michael's (I'm starting to wonder if we are gluttons for punishment) in search of invitations once again. This time we found a store in Portchester, NY which is about 25 minutes out of the city. We've past this store several times on our way out to Stamford, CT and wondered if we should give it a shot. Well yesterday we did and still came home empty handed.

It wasn't all bad though as they had an even bigger selection than the two Michael's we have visited previously. At any rate we later found ourselves at the Palisades Mall in West Nyack,NY checking out their card stores but lo and behold instead we came across a dress shop that sold plus sized gowns (Camille La Vie). From the look of what was in their windows we most certainly did not think they would have anything bigger than a size 2, let alone bridal gowns up to size 24. Well they did and this brought about another unscheduled wedding gown try-out (we had our first a view weeks ago at RK Bridal in Manhattan). Sad to say we didn't find anything, BUT happy to say that they did have some gowns for us fuller figured gals. Their dresses however, were not 'W's which meant that if you tried on a 20 it was not a 20W, and so therefore you'd really need to try on a 22. So basically, your street size is a 20 but your bridal size there might be a 22 or even 24.

The other 'plus' to this shop was that their starting prices for wedding gowns was $299. That in itself is a bargain and we are so bummed that we didn't find anything there for us! So it looks like David's Bridal is still the top dog of cheap wedding gown for us at $549 & $599 a pop. I know they say once you find your dress you should stop looking, but we just can't help wondering whether or not a cheaper gown is really out there for us and we just haven't found it yet. We both agree that we really don't want to spent a fortune on something we can only wear once. Neither of us are 'Sex In The City' gals!

Invitation-ly Challenged

Why does it seem that the things that should be the least trivial turn out to be the most trivial?!?! Yesterday we decided to check out Michael's again, it's a big craft store for those who don't know, since there is a semi new one that opened up in the city. We didn't really have any high hopes about the trip because when we went the first time the invitations they had really left a lot to be desired and the thought of making them ourselves had past. Well even though this time was much better, just in the sense that they had a lot more choices, we still did not fair well at all.

At first nothing was in our colors. Then when we did see one, it was just ugly. So yes Michaels' does have inexpensive invites but only if cheesy is your cup of tea. Now on the other hand if you've got that 'crafty' eye then Michael's is the place where your creative juices can flooooowwww. They have so many tools for card making, scrap booking, wood working, painting etc.. and so creating an invitation from their tools of the trade should be easy if this is your talent.

Since this talent is not ours we were just lost in the sauce as we looked through rows of papers, stamps, embellishments etc... It was at that precise moment I realized: this invitation search is becoming my achilles heel. You see prior to this trip I had been searching online for that 'perfect' invitation. From the websites of online sellers, to invitation you design sites, to the place an order and DIY printing websites, I feel like I've seen it all.

A while back we engaged in some 'premature' shopping and ordered a save-the-date and invitation sample. Even though we liked it we really hadn't settled on our colors, a theme, our flowers etc... so we ended up not going with those because they don't match what we eventually did settle on. Now for me, that doesn't really matter as I think these are purely things that people won't really care about & they will be come garbage as soon as they return from our wedding. Sha however, has the gift of stylishness, and a flair for what looks good and so even though we differ in this capacity there is no way we are going to end up with anything tacky. At least not tacky to us.

All this to say.... why does THIS part of our wedding preparation have to be so time consuming, mind boggling, and difficult!?!? After all, isn't it just a molehill?!?!

Envy...

I am a sinner...
Let me explain.

One of the 7 deadly sins is envy (to desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation). Now I have never been one to envy anyone because I'm a firm believer that not everything in life is meant to be mine, or rightfully mine. Well today as I continued our search for invitations I started to wonder why I couldn't be one of those talented people who could DIY the majority of our wedding odds and ends, not only because it would save us some money but also because it would give us that 'personal' touch we can't seem to find.

I said to myself, "self...., where is your DIY talent!?!?". Now fortunately I didn't answer back, but I did realize I am envious. I am envious of all those who were on that 'creativity' line when the higher power, or mother nature, or whomever was giving them out at that gate.

As for me, I must have been at the snack hut. Again. lol

!!CHEERS!! to all you awesome DIY Brides, you RULE!!!

WhiteKnot.org - Marriage Equality

WhiteKnot.org - Marriage Equality

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Update:.... Sha and I have plans to incorporate this into our wedding in some form or fashion. We think this is awesome AND are happy that we have support from so many people.

Wedding Gown Shopping... Day 2

So off we go to David's Bridal for our second go at finding 'the' dress. As our own official wedding planners we have come across many a horror story when it comes to David's Bridal (DB). So of course we tried to g with an open mind and not let those stories cloud our judgement.

Well in all honesty our visit was not that bad. Yes, we would have liked the one to one attention that we got at RK Bridal but they try, and just can't since it's more of a 'factory shopping' kind of place. Don't let the nice decor fool ya. At any rate the assistant we had started out attentive until they have her other clients to work with as the same time as us. We ended up helping each other try on dresses (good thing we had back to back appointments), while our assistant pretty much just went and brought to us things she thought my work.

At the end of the experience both and Sha and I had the feeling we had found our dresses. Notice that I didn't say 'THE' dress.

Here are the dresses we tried:::

Sha's Dress Up

Dai's Dress Up

Wedding Gown Shopping... Day 1

So yesterday after work the future wife and I were trying to decide how to spend such a lovely evening together. Somehow we ended up in RK Bridal and that's where the story begins.....

As we walked into RK Bridal I thought my knees would begin to shake and my stomach would do a flop (see previous blog) but I was actually calm, cool & collected. We stopped by the bridal shop which is not far from Sha's job just to see what the place looked like and to make an appointment. Lo and behold no appointment was needed and we ended up trying on dresses for the very first time.

Their policy is such that for a first visit you can sign in and the next available assistant will call you. Meanwhile they ask you to find 5 dresses you would like to try on while you're waiting your turn. So Sha and I did just that and not even 10 minutes later I was called. Not only did I try on 5 gowns but the assistant also picks out dresses that seem to match your taste, budget, etc.. plus you can try on as many as you want for an hour & a half. I had three top choice but the one pictured (right) stood out from the rest in terms of how well I wore it.

The best thing about the visit was there was no pressure to buy, and in fact Olga the assistant I worked with said that I should try on dresses elsewhere to see what was out there and if I really felt the dress I liked was 'the' dress I would be back. So they give you a paper with the names, dress #s & prices of the ones you want to remember. Of course you can also buy on the spot if you like. You can also come back and re-try the dress or other ones, but any visits after the first they do advise that you make an appointment so that you can work with your same assistant.

This was a great experience, I was very surprised (as specially as a bigger gal), but at the same time I was not nervous at all. Probably because it just all happened and was not planned. Only one bad thing.... only photographs of the dress you are purchasing is allowed. So that's why I've attached the dress photo from the website of the company who makes it.

This was my second dress choice. I liked the way it 'gave' me boobs! lol

Sha's Favorites

First Choice....

Second Choice....

Third Choice.....

Flip Flop

In the pit of my stomach...

Well this afternoon I called DB and made an appointment for this upcoming Sunday. On that day at 12:00pm I will be going for my very 1st dress 'look see'. Then at 1:30pm it will be Sha's turn. What happened today though kind of shocked me. As I made the call the pit of my stomach did a flip flop, and then I began to get that inner shake of fear. Until that very moment I have been nothing but excited. I didn't expect to feel nervous at all.

Music Music Music

So today I decided to work on creating my part of the play list for our reception. You see we can submit 100 songs to our Dj and so I'm choosing 50 & Sha is choosing the other 50. Not too complicated right?!?!?

Then how come I am having such a HARD time doing such a menial task! I think it's more so because I am just a music person and I love so many many songs. At the same time I am thinking what would my guest want to hear? what would make THEM get up on the dance floor? and what songs would make a great balance between what we like and the over all mood that we are going for?

At any rate, with the help of my son who's 20 & hip, I have chosen 50 songs. Fortunately, we are also going to have the input of our guest as we have added a 'song request' feature to our wedding website. Now let's just hope they drop by the site and take a moment to send their request. I want to have a blast but more importantly I want them to have a great time.

A Break With Tradition -- 'I Chose Not to Have My Dad Give Me Away'

Just call me a 'modern' bride...... because I just read this and loved it!
The thought of sharing that special moment with the person with whom I am feeling the closest to at that very moment works for me.

A Break With Tradition -- 'I Chose Not to Have My Dad Give Me Away'

....and our colors are....

So after about almost 9 months we have finally settled on our colors. Although we had many color combos in mind we were never set on any particular colors because we had no venue. It was very important for us to know what our 'space' was going to look like before setting colors in stone. In a way, I'm glad we both felt that way. For you see although neither of us would have ever thought we'd be using ORANGE in our wedding, we are. How that came about was basically by default. Our newly renovated venue has orang-ish/coral-ish/gold-ish chairs, so in order to not have an added expensive of chair covers we decided to incorporate the orange in our wedding color scheme. So basically:

sage (Sha's favorite color is green) + lilac (my favorite color is purple) + orange (venue chair color) = Dana & Sharine's Wedding Colors!

Flowers, Take II.

Yesterday we finally met with our second prospective florist (Melissa of 'Stylish Blooms', the first didn't pan out due to higher cost plus just looking at pictures of flowers just doesn't cut it. I'm not sure if that's the way it works but I wouldn't just have magazines & flower charts to show prospective clients. At any rate, the second florist we met was the total opposite. Not only did she have books to show, including her own, but she also came to us with the flowers we said we were thinking of having (gerbera daisies). She had created a bouquet for us to see, as well as two types of boutonnieres. She also had lose daisies to show us a different design we could have for our daughter's bouquet. Lastly, she had a bag filled with vases, ribbons, pendants, jewels, beads, color swatches and more. She also shared with us pictures she had taken of the bouquet with two colored ribbons.

By the time she was done we had the opportunity to see bouquets, boutonnieres, and a centerpiece. What was also great was that she came to meet us at our venue so that she could see the space we were using. In doing so we were able to see how the centerpieces would look in the space and she was also able to meet our catering manager who asked for her business cards.

I may not be much of a flower person, but I can tell when a business is going to continue to 'bloom'.