Ladies and gentlemen...I think we have a winner!

After only one weekend of rummaging through what seemed like hundreds of dresses, I have found my wedding dress. As in THE dress. The one I will marry my wonderful fiance in and look back on in pictures adoringly for years to come. It is simply gorgeous! I know everyone says that about their dresses, but mine is truly awe-inspiring =D It made my mom-who is not known to be a crying person-break down in tears. Just the reaction I wanted! lol I found my dress at David's Bridal and had looked on the website prior to going to my appointment in order to pick which ones I wanted to try on. What's funny is that I never even noticed this dress because the picture on the website just does it no justice. The dresses that I had picked out just didn't look right on me even though I thought they'd be perfect when I first saw them, so my consultant grabbed one from the rack that still didn't appeal to me until I tried it on. I really just tried it on because I didn't want to hurt her feelings or insult her taste, but it ended up fitting so perfect and being the one! I got to buy it directly off the rack since they already had it in my size and it needs no alterations. It's almost like it was made for me! Now FI is usually good and doesn't try to ruin surprises, but just in case he decides to get sneaky and look through my blog I'm going to post a picture of not only the dress I chose but the "contender dress" too. Both gowns I narrowed it down to were organza with lace-up backs. One is a draped pick-up style with a beaded, strapless, sweetheart neckline. The other is a halter with a trumpet fit and ruched asymmetric bodice. Both were beautiful but ultimately one was more "me" and won out. I guess I'll have to make you wait until August 2nd to see which one I picked! You can click on the links below to see the fronts and backs of both dresses.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498&currentIdx=39&subCategory=-49999486|-49995498&catentryId=1000066

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498&currentIdx=49&subCategory=-49999486|-49995498&catentryId=1000064

A worthy cause

As someone who has always been involved with volunteer organizations in school and through work, I'm constantly looking for ways to help others. Even during my wedding planning that's no exception. I had been looking for charitable organizations catered to brides when I stumbled upon the website bridesagainstbreastcancer.org. This organization takes donated wedding dresses and sells them at a discounted price to make a profit to use towards granting wishes for women diagnosed with severe breast cancer. I think it's a very worthy cause especially considering most dresses are worn once then just end up hanging in a closet. I'd like a better future for my dress and this seems like a good option for any bride who'd be interested in making a difference in others' lives. The real honest-to-goodness truth is that the gorgeous wedding dress you've chosen is probably never going to see the light of day again after the ceremony. Might as well pass that joy along to another girl and help raise funds for women in need at the same time! Another way I plan on giving to others courtesy of my wedding is through a business in Asheville called Second Bloom. They take the flowers from the ceremony and reception and reuse them to make arrangements for patients in hospitals and nursing homes. I thought this was such a neat idea since flowers are usually just disposed of afterwards! Flowers are VERY pricey so at least this way I'll feel like by brightening someone's day I'm getting my money's worth haha Just wanted to make this information available to other brides who might want to make someone else's day after "the big day."

Photo Stamps

I think I can add this to the list of totally unnecessary items for the wedding, but nevertheless I think they are too cute and would use them in a heartbeat if it weren't for our tight budget! They don't cost much but as we all know it's the little things that add up, and if I went out and purchased all the things that I've thought were inexpensive and "worth it" I'd be broke by now! We really don't need them but I think it's a nice way to personalize and I might try to find a way to sneak them in if the funds are there for thank-you letters or something.

Wedding band woes

The ring above is the wedding band I was trying to get for FI. He tried it on at Littman Jewelers and we both really liked it. He wanted something more modern and a bit different from the white gold eternity band he has now, and we thought this one fit the bill! Problem is the guy behind the jewelry counter failed to tell us that the company that makes this ring doesn't design them any smaller than a size 9. So basically that means this one ain't gonna work :( It's a little upsetting because we went to four other jewelry stores in our area and he didn't find anything else that he really liked at any of those places either. After looking on the internet he did see the band below that he likes, but part of me has some reservations about ordering something like that online without getting to inspect it and try it on first, ya know? I guess the search continues!

Let there be light!

I've always loved the look of paper lanterns. I think they are perfect for adding color in a fun way to a wedding. Needless to say, I will be using them in my wedding decor. The place where we're getting married has two huge windows and I've seen lanterns used in them before, although I had plans to use them long before I ever saw that done. The main concern, obviously, is that since they will be hanging from a high ceiling I will not be able to light them. I think just the hot pink lanterns alone though, even without being lit, will be bold enough that it won't matter. If it really ends up bothering me there's always those battery-operated LED lights.

Neato photo boards

Some couples have slide shows at their weddings with different shots of them growing up through the years. I think this is a great idea, but unfortunately our venue doesn't have all the equipment to do that without us having to put up a big tacky-looking white screen. Therefore I thought it would be neat instead to make photo boards! Yes...make them. I don't think I'd find one with our colors, not to mention these things are surprisingly expensive! I found some instructions by searching Google (God I love my Google!) and it really only requires ribbon, batting, corkboard and foam, and a stapler. R and I practically grew up together since we met back in middle school so we have a ton of pictures of the two of us. I thought we would make three boards to fill up space on the large gift table provided; one of just FI with his cute little baby pics and all his sports photos, one with my childhood photos, and then one filled with pics of the two of us together through the years. I think it will turn out quite well! Here are some examples of what the finished product will look like:

What's for dinner?

I am so thrilled with our choice of caterer for the wedding. Not only are they super friendly and helpful, but they are making our reception dinner more affordable than we imagined! We are getting a plated dinner for the same cost we thought we would spend on a buffet. Plus we got to custom design our menu and they were very flexible. I don't eat red meat so that limited us to chicken or fish for dinner, and we're both not wild about fish. We decided we wanted a unique chicken dish rather than just having the traditional done-at-every-wedding grilled breast, and so our caterer is making a stuffed chicken filled with broccoli, almonds, and mozzarella. We'll also have linguine pasta and salad with it. YUM! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I think I'm actually looking forward to this tasting more than I was the cake tasting!