Say Yes to The Dress Twice

The Moment:

The first time I went wedding dress shopping was due to complete boredom. I walked into David’s Bridal with my best friends and looked at a dress and said "That is an ugly dress." It would figure that the one dress I singled out as unattractive would be the winner. It was the end of the day and I still hadn’t found the dress that made me want to shout and run around the store, so we decided to look at dresses I didn’t like.

First Dress at David's Bridal - Not Winner

Once I put on my dress it was a feeling I can’t really explain. Everyone gasped when I came out, but I still couldn’t see myself and I thought I looked bad in it. As I turned around and looked at myself my world just stopped. I looked in the mirror and saw myself as Mrs. Felicia Bond. My best friends started crying and made the situation all the more emotional. There were butterflies in my stomach, my body felt warm all over and I just couldn’t stop looking at myself. It felt so good I wanted to call Reuben and show him what I looked like. I wanted him to see the look on my face and the way I couldn’t stop smiling. I knew that if I stopped smiling I would cry like a big dramatic bridezilla in the store. Regardless, I knew that in this amazing dress the man I love more than life itself would believe that I was the most beautiful bride he would ever see in his life.

I tried looking at other dress, but none of them came close to the same feelings or look I wanted. I guess thats why they say once you've found your dress grab it and run.

A couple of weeks later I returned with my mother and my aunt Pattie. I felt I had cheated them on the experience of wedding dress shopping with me, so we went back to David’s Bridal. Truthfully, I was looking forward to the water works that would occur between the two of them. It was the look on their faces as they saw me in my wedding dress that made me breakdown with them. They looked so happy and proud that I couldn’t hold back. The afternoon began with three red faced women laughing and crying in a crowed bridal store. A memory I will carry with me for life.

My original bridal consultant Jessica came and gave me a hug and told me to make a wish and ring the wedding bell. I made my wish and said “yes to the dress.” The biggest surprise and moment of the day came when my mother bought my wedding dress for me. I couldn’t stop smiling and even did a happy dance in the street.

I told my fiancé that I got my wedding dress and he replied, “I know you’ll be breathtakingly beautiful in your dress.” I knew from that simple comment that he would more than likely make me want to cry as I walk down the aisle to meet my future husband.

Wedding Dress Shopping Advice from a Budget Bridezilla

Never let a budget stop you from getting the dress of your dreams. You generally only get one dress, so make it count.

Be reasonable as well. If you have a $500 to $1000 wedding dress budget don’t get crazy and try to buy the $5,000 designer dress from Kleinfield Bridal.

Go in the bridal boutiques with an open mind and try styles that you wouldn’t normally consider.

Take people you love and trust with you. Although, I would exclude the overly opinionated and/pr potentially jealous friend from the mix.

Remember to have fun and take your time.

When you find your dress, don't forget to do the happy dance.  

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere

Flowers are a very important part of weddings. It’s keeps people in touch with nature and reminds us that we share a union with mother earth as well as our spouses. I know I’m getting a little mushy here, but I love nature and that is why we arehaving a country wedding.

There is nothing better than being able to bask in the glory that is earth – well except for the creepy crawlies. Yikes, bugs please don’t feel the need to crawl on my dress during the wedding because I will lose my mind. Back to the point – a lot of consideration goes into choosing the right flowers for your special day.

 Seven things to keep in mind when choosing wedding flowers:

1.      Is the price right? How much are you willing to spend on flowers? As I mentioned in a previous blog post flowers account for about eight percent of your wedding budget.

2.     Are you willing to construct your own bridal bouquets and the groomsman boutonnieres? This can actually be cost saving. It is often the labor involved with florist assembling the bouquets that raises the price considerably.

3.    Real or silk flowers, never plastic that’s just cheap. SilkFlowerFactory.com has beautiful realistic looking flowers, but I still prefer the real thing.

4.     Do the flowers work with the environment? For example, unless you’re having a Christmas wedding azaleas and poinsettias just look out of place.

5.     How big or small do you want the bouquets? If you a choosing a flower such as the large calla lily then have a single or few looks quite lovely as bridal bouquets.

Example of Large Calla Lily Bouquet

6.     Do you want your bridesmaids to have bouquets or corsages? Both are beautiful in their own right, but I personally feel that corsages are for prom not weddings. Ironically, that’s not stopping me from purchasing corsages for the mother-of-the-bride and the mother-of-the-groom.

7.     Most important: Are your desired wedding flowers available year-round or are they seasonal? This could make a difference in price as well as obtaining the flowers you truly want for your special day.  

Remember to avoid having your flowers drowned out by your wedding dress or bridesmaid dresses. For example, red flowers on top of a red dress do not pop as much as pink or white floral bouquets.

I’ve talked with multiple florists in the RTP area including North Raleigh Florists, Fallon’s Flowers, and World of Flowers. I also ventured down the path of creating the bouquets and boutonnieres myself and found competitive prices at PacificCallas.com and FlowerMuse.com.

North Raleigh Florist:

Ms. Brandi Dennison a wedding coordinator for North Raleigh Florist mentioned that “Calla Lilies were a good choice for the hot summer months because they don’t wilt as quickly as other flowers.” I found Mrs. Dennison be wonderfully helpful in furthering my decision to go calla lily crazy at my wedding. It didn’t hurt that the quoted price was well within my budget. I asked if the calla lilies I desired could be ordered when needed. Ms. Dennison replied, “All the flowers are coming from Ecuador, so they are available year-round.”

Picture: NorthRaleighFlorist.Com

Fallon’s Flowers:

Mrs. Diane Reiman recommended that I place the order for the flowers at least two months in advance of the wedding. The best part about talking to her was the price lock guarantee. Essentially, when I decide to order my flowers the price I am quoted is the price I pay. When I asked about pricing Mrs. Reiman replied, “There is a one hundred dollar non-refundable deposit required and even if you decided to cancel, the deposit could be applied to store credit.”

I have to say I had the best experience in Fallon’s and Mrs. Reiman was a pleasure to work with. I feel she took the time to get to know me and what I wanted out of the bridal flowers. She made suggestions that matched my tastes and made an in-depth price sheet for me. Her supervisor Mr. Frank guaranteed that Fallon’s Flowers had the best prices. I wholeheartedly believe them and can’t wait to work with them in the future.

Why do I Have to Feed the Guest Again?

According to wedding specialists the typical costs of catering should be 40 percent of the wedding budget and flowers should be eight percent. So with roughly a four thousand dollar budget I’m looking at spending $1600 on food and $320 on flowers. I can live with the flower budget, but the food budget is nowhere near what my fiancé or I are willing to pay. So we did a little research and what did we find? Simply put – Caterers have lost their minds!

Once you have decided on the time and location of wedding reception, it becomes easier to plan for catering. For instance, if your wedding is after lunch then you could do a cocktail or hor d'ourves hour to mingle with wedding guests and eat cake. Most people will have already eaten dinner and therefore, not consume a lot of food. We decide to do a picnic style wedding with finger foods, picnic foods, and fruit/cheese trays. The picnic style works perfectly with our Country Wedding in the City theme. Plus, we both love going picnicking at Umstead Park, so why not.

We started by looking at the different caterers in the Raleigh area, it was between $25 and $50 a person and we’re inviting roughly 110 guests. Since our wedding is taking place before lunch, it is necessary that we provide adequate food options for the guests and stay within the budget.

Premiere Catering & Events: Jessica King, the Lead Designer at informed us that for hor d'ourves, the price per person was $25. On the low end that’s about $2750 and on the high end we’re looking at more than the wedding budget at $5500. Ms. King informed us that “The food for the events is ordered specifically for the event. As well as they use local organic products to supply the events.” I like this fact and I’m still not willing to pay the price.

Catering by Design: Prices are a little high but considering that the food comes with linens, chinaware, servers and a bartender it's still still too rich for my blood. The best value option is $34 per person and the cost conscious option is $40 per person.

Tip: Make sure your venue allows alcoholic beverages on the premises before committing to buying tons of alcohol.

Family: We both have chefs in our family and they all want to help out with the wedding. They can cook and prepare exactly what we want to eat and take care of most of the costs associated with catering. Plus, family is already of aware of the food preferences and allergies of other family members and prepare the food accordingly.

I think the winner is to utilize family resources and have our picnic reception catered by the people we love. Family caterers supply the extra ingredient  of love that makes the food taste all the better.

Mothers Day Out

Even though having order in planning a wedding is important, sometimes you just have to go with the flow. When opportunities arise to look at new things then you should take it. For example, my future mother-in-law, Mrs. Bond, wanted to go look at tuxedos with my fiancé Reuben and I. I thought hey why not.  We could get him sized and just maybe she will agree that Reuben looks better in a black tux instead of a gray one.

Suites for the Men - Mens Warehouse

                By the end of the trip to Men’s Warehouse she was on my side and I decide that Reuben should wear a black tux with silver accents and the groomsmen shall wear black tuxedos with lapis (purple) accents. The helpful young man at the store suggested that the groom and groomsmen be fitted for their tuxes at least four to six months ahead of time.

The next day we decided to go look at florists, food for the wedding, and decide if we were going to rent/or buy the decorations for the reception. The journey was long and surprisingly fun with my mom and future mother-in-law. For flowers and food we looked at World of Flowers, BJs, and Sam’s Club. Then Michaels to look at wedding decorations. Found some really cool stuff at Michaels, but that's a post for another day. Back to the point. Pricing wise it is very convenient to cater the wedding ourselves, but issues could arise with regard to venues having preferred venue notations.

Michaels.com

My mother and future mother-in-law were very helpful and made the trip all the more fun. Mrs. Bond and my mom gave the best advice at the end of the day. “It’s your wedding and can invite or not invite anyone that you think will be a problem. Feelings aside this is your wedding and you shouldn’t have to worry about other people on your special day.” I couldn’t agree more. It would definitely cut the guest list down if I excluded a couple of people that might pose a problem at the wedding.

                We ended the night by eating at Applebee’s and meeting up with my future husband-to-be Reuben for dinner. As we waited for his arrival we took to adding the groom’s side of the family to the guest list and thought of friends, church members, and co-workers we would want to invite. The day out with the moms made me realize how glad I am that I do have a close relationship with the both of them. Reuben and I are both happy that we have their love and support in moving with our decision to get married. That is almost the best feeling out of the whole wedding experience besides for the nuptials.  

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