Picking Out My Wedding Dress -- Part 4

I'm going on a weekend getaway with Fiance today and didn't want to leave you all in suspense over the wedding dress I picked!

Yes, I know that Option C was actually the more "vintage" of the three, but I didn't have the wedding theme back then, remember? But that bow in the front is DEFINITELY coming off. And the best part of this dress, in my opinion, is the back:

I love corset style backs.

A Vintage Wedding

Throughout our wedding planning, I've been obssessed with a number of wedding blogs. Weddingbee is the one I'm most obssessed with, most likely because each time I visit the site (multiple times a day!) there are new posts. I've gotten tons of good advice from budgeting to DIY crafts to etiquette. But the one thing I noticed was most wedding bloggers reference their wedding theme a lot. From a science lab themed wedding featuring test tubes, flasks and beakers to damask weddings to the french inspired and even polka dot type affairs, everyone seems to have a theme.

Looking at the countdown calendar ripped out of the last issue of Brides magazine, it seems that my fiance and I should've decided our theme . . . four months ago?! About a month ago, I said "forget it, I'm not buying into some stupid wedding industry need for a theme!" But secretly I wished we had one partly for the cohesive effect it gives and partly for ease of figuring out the decorations and such. Honestly, I didn't think my fiance would go for a theme because I knew he would picture it going to an extreme -- like a costume level that would be too kitschy for our tastes. I'd hinted at a couple themes. I suggested an international travel inspired wedding because we'd spent a year together in Europe and did a lot of travelling -- one of our favorite hobbies -- as well as a San Francisco themed affair because about 90% of our guests are coming from out of town. Nothing seemed to catch his interest and I didn't push it.

Last Sunday, I went to Michael's to pick up some supplies for this weekend's upcoming DIY craft party. I ended up with a cartful of twenty flower stems in champagne and a greyish blue (bridesmaids dresses are pewter and a tealish/bluish color that I will post later) and had a real vintage/antique-y quality to them. I showed them off to my fiance when I got home and said, "these are perfect! And they go well with my dress too which has a vintage kind of look to it!"

Hours later while surfing the internet and stumbling upon vintage glam, I was in love. "Honey," I started, ready to plead. "What do you think of a vintage-y wedding?" To my shock and happiness instead of the usual non-responsiveness he greeted my previous themes with, he nodded enthusiastically. "Sounds great," he told me.
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"Really??" I asked excitedly. "Because I think it would totally work! The flowers are sort of vintage-y and my dress too! Oh, and that pearl bracelet that I'm planning on wearing? And I wanted a birdcage veil! And our reception site is that cool old, abandoned firehouse!" I continued rambling for a good two minutes, excited that without even meaning to, all our wedding plans (with the small exception, perhaps, of the bridesmaid dresses) fit perfectly into a vintage chic/vintage glam/vintage inspired wedding.

So now we have a theme! We haven't really picked a particular era, but are generally inspired by the 1930s and 1940s.

Getting in the Mood with Movies

Next weekend my bridesmaids and girlfriends who live close to me are coming over for a couple days of crafting and movie watching. What better way to get in the mood than with wedding-related movies in the background? I've been racking my brain to come up with a decent selection of wedding movies for my girls to choose from and, coincidentally, Miss Glitter on Weddingbee posted about her favorite wedding movies today!

After reading her post, doing a quick google search (see: Brides.com and the top grossing wedding movies, and looking through my own movie collection, I came up with my list of favorite wedding movies (most of which will probably be watched next weekend!):

27 Dresses is a fun, cute movie where a girl finally learns to be a little less selfless and make herself happy. It also highlights just how bad bridesmaids dresses can be.

Wedding Crashers is honestly one of my favorites on this list. I think it's hilarious and it's something both my fiance and I can watch together and enjoy! (Most of the others on this list he considers way too "chick flick" to truly enjoy).

My Best Friend's Wedding and Runaway Bride because who doesn't love a Julia Roberts romantic comedy? I'll also note that Made of Honor, while not a Julia Roberts movie, is remarkably similar to My Best Friend's Wedding (only with a male protagonist instead). Personally, I didn't like Made of Honor that much and thus do not include it in my list of favorites.

Wedding Date: Sometimes one finds love in unexpected ways. I know my fiance and I met in an unexpected place (but not because he's a male escort...)

Sex and the City was not what I was expecting after watching the entire TV series, but a good film nonetheless.

Sweet Home Alabama is another one of my favorites on this list. Plus, who doesn't love the song? It's something everyone can sing along with...definitely going on our wedding playlist! And Reese Witherspoon is so sweet...

Mamma Mia is a fun musical. I haven't actually seen the movie, but my brother gave me the DVD for Christmas. Hopefully the movie version is just as good as the Broadway one!

Father of the Bride. I remember this movie being cute, but I haven't seen it since I was a kid. I should netflix it for one of our wedding craft parties!

The Wedding Planner combines one of my favorite actors with one of my least favorite actresses. Heart Matthew McConaughey, but NOT a big fan of J. Lo. The movie was cute though! J. Lo doesn't play sweet and innocent so well, but it's not like chick flicks always feature the best acting, anyway.

And last, but not least, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Apparently this is the number one grossing wedding film of all time. Who would've guessed?

Shopping at Michael's, One Week at a Time

Because we have a pretty limited budget, we decided to do as many DIY projects as possible. We want to do our invitations, reply cards, programs, bouquets, reception decorations (including table cloths), aisle runner, accessories (such as jewelry, garter and veil) and possibly even food items ourselves or through the help of friends and family. Also, we agreed to go to Michael's once a week and buy one item at a time (or two if I can drag Fiance with me) with the 40% off coupons that we get with our newspaper each week. Sounds like a plan, yes?

Here's what we've learned.

First, it's not really necessary to hunt down the Michael's coupon each week in our throw-away mail or newspaper. Turns out every time you make a purchase from Michael's, along with your receipt comes a coupon to use for the following week. Sometimes the coupon is 40% or 50% off any single item or occassionally you get a 20% off entire purchase coupon. Personally, I much perfer the single item coupons because I don't mind picking up one item at a time.

Second, Saturday afternoons in the month before Christmas are a terrible time to make your weekly stop at Michael's. I went there yesterday to return a rotary paper cutterthat I bought from Michael's on Black Friday (it was a great deal! It was regularly priced at $70, but was selling for $30 and then I used a 20% off coupon so I got it for $24...but then I decided I really wanted a guillotine cutter instead and will pay the extra $ for what I really want) and buy some silver ink. After battling a Ford Ranger who did NOT want to let me merge into his lane, I get to the parking lot and . . . what?! No parking spaces?! Now, other than Black Friday at 8 a.m., I've only been to this particular Michael's on weekdays either in the early morning or early afternoon and have easily found parking immediately adjacent to the door. Turns out, the story is quite different on the weekend. Ordinarily I would've said "Screw it!" and come back midweek, but I was meeting one of my bridesmaids so we could decide exactly what design we were going to use for my wedding invites. Michael's is indeed a madhouse with the line snaking through the holiday stocking stuff displays, past the cardstock, and halfway through the back of the store. Yeah, definitely not going back there on a weekend, at least not in the month of December.

Third, not all Michael's are created equal. The Michael's closest to where we're currently living has a woefully small paper-product (i.e. scrapbooking) section (and instead is replaced with a ginormous Crayola section for 7 year olds). Sad. Which means every time I visit my old stomping grounds (really only about half an hour away) I must stop into Michael's there.

Fourth, seasonal sales clerks are no help at all. I actually understand this one having worked a number of retail jobs throughout high school and college. Seasonal employees are there only to help with the huge crowds, they get hired in November or so and don't have a lot of time to learn the store, hey often don't care about customer service because they have no real ties to the company. Even so, I get a teensy bit frustrated by the blank stares I get when I ask for help. "Excuse me, but do you know where your envelopes are?" *Blank stare* "Hi, can you help me find your paint pens?" *Blank stare* Worse still is when I get a similar response from an assistant manager: "Excuse me, but do you know where I could find flat glass ornaments to decorate?" I asked, showing him a picture of what I want. *Blank stare* accompanied by, "Uh...if it's not on the shelf, then we probably don't have it." Wonderful.

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Items that I'm looking to buy from Michael's in the next couple months: guillotine paper cutter, cardstock, envelopes, ribbon, eyelets, hole punch, floral wire, double-sided sticky tape, ink...

Dresses on sale

At David's Bridal until December 1. I know, I know. David's Bridal gets really mixed reviews. Personally, I think if you're strong enough to ignore the sales pitch of the rep helping you and bring a friend with you to give his or her honest opinion, you'll be fine. Some complain that the quality of the dress isn't that great, but they seemed fine to me. I can't imagine that it wouldn't hold up for one day -- which is exactly how long I plan on wearing it. At $350, I couldn't really beat that price for what I wanted (I didn't want a previously worn dress because I'm superstitious like that and couldn't shop the samples because dresses in sample sizes are about 8 sizes too large for me).

Also, if you purchase your dress from David's Bridal you can save your bridesmaids some money ($20 off each of their dresses) and get a discount from Men's Wearhouse for tuxes as well.

What the budget includes:

Everyone has a different definition of exactly what is included in the wedding budget. We have decided that our wedding budget includes:

• Venue rentals (for both the ceremony and reception site; including clean up fees, permit fees, insurance if required, etc...)
• Food
• Alcohol (but we will limit the types of alcohol we serve and likely cap the time we host the bar)
• Attire for the bride and groom
• Entertainment (i.e., music)
• Decorations
• Flowers
• Marriage license fees
• Invitations, reply cards, postage, programs
• Wedding photography
• Transportation on our wedding day (transportation for the bridal party; discussing possibility of transportation for all wedding guests between ceremony and reception site as well)
• Hair/makeup
• Gifts for the wedding party and favors for guests

What our wedding budget does not include:

• Honeymoon
• Wedding rings
• Engagement photography

You can find a useful (and free!) budget worksheetat Real Simple. We nixed a few things from the worksheet (as well as other items that wedding magazines/books/websites claim you need) that we decided we really didn't need at our wedding:

• Corsages (bridesmaids don't need boquets and corsages!)
• Ring bearer pillow (no ring bearer; best man's going to hold onto those)
• Flower girl's buds and basket (see, neither of us have nieces or nephews or anyone else close to us with children in the ring bearer/flower girl age . . . turns out, we don't mind because it lets us cut a things from the budget!)
• Cocktail hour musicians and DJ/band (we're going the iPod route, though we are entertaining the idea -- budget permitting, of course -- of having acoustic music for our ceremony)
• Videography (I certainly am not going to watch my wedding again and again . . . I'd rather allocate this money for a better photographer)
• Welcome gifts for out of town guests (the vast majority of our guests are out-of-town and there's no way we could afford welcome baskets for everyone; we are trying to do some other cost-effective things to welcome them, including transportation services between the hotel and wedding day events, hosting picnics, etc...)
• Save-the-date cards (saves not only on the cards themselves, but also postage which adds up!)
• Seating and place cards (sit where you like! Also, we're probably hosting a more informal cocktail-type reception so place cards are really unnecessary)