Walking down the aisle Welcome to all Brides, Grooms, Best Men, Maids of Honor, Groomsmen, Ushers, Bridesmaids, Parents of the Bride/Groom...whoever! Introduce yourself in your first post; let us know your role in the wedding, if you have a role in the wedding that is! Alright; after Muffin (who's not even a bride yet!) agreed that I should start a wedding thread I decided to do it. There are at least 3 of us here getting married that are regular posters; feel free to join in if you're new or just want to contribute to the thread! Contribute whatever you want. If you want to rant about the wedding process, go for it! If you want to rave about something new for the wedding you just picked up or completed do that! If you've got questions, post them and we'll be a sounding board. Post links that have been helpful for you if you've got them. And pictures pictures pictures...who doesn't like pictures?!? Hopefully this is helpful!
Alright, I'll post more later, I'm still at work; but I wanted to share my latest idea. We are getting our engagement pictures done on the 29th (praying for fall colors and good weather!). Once we get those pictures back I'm going to have it made into a coffee table book; but only have the pictures on every other page. We're going to use it as the guest book. Better then a traditional guest book that you throw in a drawer and never use, and I have a feeling that the signed photo frames (that are also HUGE) might end up looking pretty dated later. Not a big fan of the inscribes plates either. So this way we can put it away if we need too or proudly display it on our coffee table. I'm excited about it.
Man that sounds much nicer than the generic one I've just bought. Oh well, ours is going to be a no muss no fuss wedding. The hardest thing I've done so far is actually go out and buy bridesmaid's dresses. I could only go with my MOH as she's the only one who knows, and hopefully I've got the right sizes for my sisters. They're nice though, and when I've got them off layby I'll post a pic. I've also got some under stuff to wear under my dress to hold all of the wobbly bits in . I don't have half the willpower Shana does (she says munching down a bag of potato chips ) so therefore, diets don't like me. I think that's about it for now. We have everyone pitching in, and as it's only and engagement party we're only having a BBQ dinner. Plus we're getting people to bring salads and sweets and all the niggly food bits that they want. I really love a no muss no fuss wedding!
Found a pic of my dress from ebay. Very simple, but I love it and it looks very good on. What do ya think?
Absolutely LOVELY!!!! It's "simple" but very sophisticated and I beleive it will bring YOU out the best way. I'm no fan at all about these people that have all this fancy stuff on - you can't see the person anymore... Everyone is looking at the clothes.. But I think you really "hit the nail" there. Lovely, lovely, lovely" Jupiter: That's a brilliant idea you got!!! Wonderful!!!
Thanks Helen! I love it too. I didn't want anything that puffed out too much, because, to be perfectly frank, I don't need anymore help in looking like a marshmallow . Plus, as the wedding is in the backyard, it just didn't suit to go with a big extravagent dress. Plus we can't afford one !! Having said that, if I could afford and look good in a big dress, I would get one. But hey, there's always next time
That's a really nice wedding dress you got there, allie. I like it lots. Oh, what the heck, I like ALL wedding dresses!
I love it! And it's perfect for an outdoor wedding! Very beautiful! And sooo funny about the next time comment. Bridesmaid dress shopping was one thing I wasn't looking forward to doing either. So I let the girls pick out their own dresses; I just specified the color. The maid of honor is going to be in an ice blue dress by Les Soirees and the two bridemaids are going with Alfred Angelo Seperates collection in cornflower...they ended up picking the same top so that works! I'll attach a picture of what they picked out. I still haven't found flower girl dresses yet; I have two flower girls too. That's on my to do list by the end of the month. Tonight my mom and I are going to be spray painting branches silver for our centerpieces. We're hanging them from the clothes line and going nuts. Should be fun! How many bridesmaids are you having Alli? Hugz; have you picked out a bridal party yet? Picture: Dress on left is the Alfred Angelo Seperates dress the two bridesmaids picked out. Dress on right is Maid of Honor's dress but it will be in an ice blue color, slightly lighter then the cornflower blue of the other two girls.
I have my MOH, who is my best friend and has been for about 7ish years. Then there is my 2 sisters for my bridesmaids. But my sisters don't know yet. They'll find out about half an hour before it happens. They are all in a deep purple colour dress, that is really nice, but I can't describe them, so you'll just have to wait a couple of weeks for me to pay them off before I show pics. Ash' cousin is coming down from QLD to be best man (he's the only other one who knows) and his two mates are going to be Groomsmen, but they are the same as my sisters and won't know til half an hour before. It's all very exciting really. Must find a countdown timer and find out how far away it actually is. (Just stealing your idea Shana) Edit: Just added ticker. Wow, that's not long at all really now is it?? :worried:
With that ticker it will seem like it will go even faster!!! I swear mine just said 7 months like two weeks ago. Yikes! And that is pretty cool that you're surprising your family like that! Do they know you two are engaged? Or is everything a big surprise? It sounds like such an exciting way to get married! Our only possible surprise is that we will be giving roses to our mothers during the ceremony and we might...might...start our first dance with a slow song and change it up into a fast song and do a silly coordinated dance so it's not so dull! We'll see; we haven't decided on that yet. SBW and Sacharissa, don't breath a word to anyone else in case we end up doing that since you're in on the secret now!
They know we're engaged so it's just the wedding that will be a surprise. It's hard keeping it to myself though. Several times I've been talking about food and organisation of the party with mum and i've got to think everything through before I say it to make sure I don't let on. It's frustrating, but I think it will all be worth it. We just found out the date clashes with a friends 30th though, so I don't know how that will affect the guest list. To tell you the truth, I'm really not that fussed though. If they are there, they're there, if not, tough. We will be and that's the main thing.
Can you let your friend know what you're planning? Maybe they will then change their date? I understand the rest though; my mom keeps saying; "you can get married without a cake, without a dress, without any guests; as long as the two of you and the officiant are there that's all that matters in the long run!" I try to keep that in the back of my head whenever I'm feeling a bit stressed about the wedding.
Well I think Shanna that you will have a beautiful wedding so don't worry too much. You have been preparing it for a while now, so I personally thinks it Will be fine.
I sure hope so! Honestly I've been really stressed about it lately. It just seems like every other thought or every other activity I do outside of work (and quite often while at work) has to do with the wedding...it's starting to get a little bit overwhelming. Seriously: Thursday: On the phone with my mom to go over some details regarding the videographer; trying to decide on the package. Discussed when we need to be buying the flowers (I'm DIYing them). Talked about flower girl dresses and set deadline for when I need to have them picked out. Looked online at flower girl dresses for 2 hours... Friday, went up to my parents to spray paint 42 branches silver for our centerpieces. (turned out cool, see pictures) Discussed time line with mom to try to settle on times; tried to figured out transportation as well for the day of. Discussed videographer and flowers again. Looked online for flower girl dresses again... Saturday: Premarital Counseling session in AM. Went to a donor recruitment drive for work and got asked all about the wedding plans for the entire 6 hours I was there. Went to dinner with a friend who also asked me all about our wedding plans and I discussed with her what she might be reading during the ceremony. Flower girl dresses... Sunday: Went through insurance papers trying to figure out who's insurance is better for once we're married. Try to figure out time lines after marriage for when children might enter the picture to see if that would make a difference with who's insurance we go with. Sat down with Brandon to discuss all that. Talked about the wedding plans and roles certain people will play. Mom called; discussed plans for the bridal shower; think we have the date set for November 4th. Called Maid of Honor to leave message, waiting for her to call back. Realized how many companies/places I need to contact after getting married to let them know of my new name....ugh....headache right there. Realized that after 27 years (I'll be 27 when we marry) that I will no longer be Shana (Last-name). Had a slight identity crisis. Ran into my cousin at a grocery store who happens to be the mother of one of the flower girls...discussed the d*** flower girl dresses and promised to have a decision by the end of the month. Tomorrow: If I hear from Maid of Honor, book the community room for the shower in our apartment building. Yes it probably shouldn't be at my apartment but it's the only place big enough to accommodate the 100+ women and children who will probably show. We're doing it open house style for the reasons of the large number of people. Look at frickin flower girl dresses again... That's just 4 days people! You try planning a party for 250 people where your life changes in front of all of them; it's a bit stressful. But again; I wouldn't change any of it for the world. I'm overjoyed to be marrying Brandon; and I am actually happy to be taking his name as I do feel it's important. It's important to us to also have this big ceremony as we want everyone to share in on the day. It's just a lot to take on. We're working with a smaller budget; I say smaller because average weddings in the St. Paul area are about $30,000.00. Ours will be below $10,000. If we had unlimited resources I think it would be easier. And Odimoon...one n in my name. Now find me some good flower girl dresses for punishment. picture captions: 1. Box of branches to be hung on a clothesline and spray painted silver. 2. Silver branches on a clothesline :-P 3. Unfinished centerpiece; these branches will later have "ice" on them and single strands of tinsel hanging off them with a fake snow (that looks real and is made with a powder and water) in the vase. 4. Showing the snowflake that the vase will sit on. There will also be tealights in tealight holders in between each arm of the snowflake.
Wow! You really put your heart into this. It's amazing. I don't think I will have such a wedding, when we can "afford" to get married... There's too much to do and settle before we can do it and be away on an honeymoon. We're establishing the company here and that takes lots of time and energy, and you just can't "let go" in our business like that. That would crash it and when back we wouldn't have any income to rely on... And also.. My wish is to go to New Zealand on my honeymoon... And that's sort of on "the other side" as well. But as we say here: "The person that waits for something good wont ever wait in vain". .D All I can say to you both is: You have my very best wishes for the future and may your life fulfill your dreams. * And with that, the bunny wabbit flaps her ears and hops away... :bunny:
I think I'm pretty much organised. The only thing I now have to worry about is what do I get the bridal party and groom for presents? I think we were going to go with champagne glasses and beer mugs with the names and roles for the bridal party, though we're still not 100%. But what do I get Ash? I have no idea. Well, I have one idea, but it would have to be a wedding, birthday and christmas present all in one, as I won't be able to afford anything else. Was thinking a night in the city and 2 tickets to Spamalot. He'd like to see that, actually, it's the only musical I think he'd actually volunteer to go to . Suggestions??
4 months!!! Four Freaking Months! AHHHH!!! Okay...now that I got that out of my system; how you doing Alliecat? Did the dresses come in yet? How is the rest of the planning going? Did you figure out what to get Ash? (don't ask me, I don't know what I'm getting Brandon yet either!) We picked up our flowers the other day; I'm doing silks since I'm allergic to real ones and it's also cheaper and one less thing to worry about the day of. Check out my blog, I posted about it there.
