Making decisions

This past week was a busy one — wow. I don't think I've been that busy in a while. Between working (at the magazine and part time for my aunt), wedding planning, keeping everyone in the loop, and staying in touch with friends, I was feeling pretty stressed. Poor Mike took the brunt of all of it, but we both feel a million times better this week.

The reason being — we've made some pretty important decisions as of late! Finally, some of the big "to dos" are getting crossed off our long list. We were in touch with about three different photographers, and this past Friday, Mike and I sent an e-mail to all three saying we were looking at our budget to see what we could afford and what option to take. A couple of hours later, one of them (the one we were leaning towards!) e-mailed back, saying she would give us a discount because a) she has known me for about 3 years (she does freelance photography for the magazine) and b) she would love shoot such a "nice looking couple at such a lovely location." Her words, not mine! ;)

The price she gave us was too good to pass up, so we immediately got back in touch with her and said we'd love to have her as our photographer. So, we now have a lovely wedding photographer who is such a nice person. She'll be bringing along an assistant photographer, so we'll have two photographers during the evening, and she'll give us a CD with all of the images. All for under $1,000! I know it sounds like a lot, but the normal price for wedding photographers is $1,500 and more! You can check Kirsten out at: spotteddogphoto.blogspot.com

Now onto the other piece of news...as of yesterday afternoon, I have officially ordered my wedding gown! I had an appointment yesterday, and tried on another handful of gowns, but kept coming back to the one I found a week ago. I told myself, if I keep comparing every dress to this one and I like it so much, then I should just order it and call it a day. I am so thrilled to have found The Dress and at such an amazing price! It was on sale for $249!!!! And, the salesperson told me it will take less time to get it ordered, and will be here in about 6 weeks for alterations and such. I'm happy I will be able to get everything done with plenty of time to spare.

As for the last piece of good news...we have decided on a florist — BobbyMark's Designs. We met with them for a long time last week and got every single detail down on paper — what I want my bouquet to look like, what we want at the altar, for the reception tables — everything. We have a good bit of work ahead of us in terms of trimming down on the costs of all the flowers, but they are more than willing to work with us and our budget. They are so fun to talk to and we both feel incredibly comfortable with them. Check out their work at: bobbymarksdesigns.com

So, with the essential decisions more or less done for now, I am looking forward to a much needed breather. Tonight is Mike's 26th birthday, and we are definitely going to celebrate and relax!! 

Dress shopping!

This weekend was the first venture out into the world of bridal gown shopping, and let me tell you, it is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I made two different appointments at two bridal boutiques here in Asheville -- one at Wedding Inspirations on Charlotte Street...

Wedding Inspirations 

...and one at David's Bridal

David's Bridal

Both were very different in their own way. Wedding Inspirations was set in this 100-year old house (the owner told me!) in the historic neighborhood close to Grove Park Inn. It was the cutest little shop -- white picket fence, dresses in the window, flower boxes, you get the idea! The selection was fairly limited, but they were having a trunk show that consisted of some of the latest couture designer dresses (the super expensive ones, in other words!), and other new gowns from other less expensive designers. There were probably around 4 small rooms filled with white organza, lace, satin, and chiffon just waiting for me to drool over! When I first walked in, I got to know Gwenn, the owner, and showed her my ideas I was looking for. I had done my homework well, having brought clippings of dresses I liked along with me.

She then gave me a handful of cute lavender ribbons, and told me to browse the merchandise, placing a ribbon on any that spoke to me. I wanted to put a ribbon on way more, but I made myself really look at the options and be decisive in the time I had. All in all, I picked probably around 8 or 9 to try on. And that's when Mom, Steve, and Harrison arrived!!

It was so great to see them -- I am so grateful they came to help me! I really needed it. So, after I made my selection of dresses, they took us all in a cute back room with a curtain separating the middle, and Gwenn started bringing in 3 dresses at a time. I picked out a lot of the mermaid-style dresses with very fitted, angular looks. The first I wasn't too thrilled about, to be honest. It was a little too slinky, and didn't really feel like a wedding dress that really pops.

They started to get better after that, and we finished with my favorite of the ones I had chosen -- an ivory shade, fitted satin gown that had the loveliest train. FYI: I would totally post photos on here, but I'm worried Mike would see them, and we just can't have that! But to get back to the dress, it was on the expensive side, but one that I really did like. The catch: it didn't say "bridal" to me...and I think that was what was holding me back a bit. Plus, I feel like it made me feel bigger than I actually am. It was more of an evening gown you'd wear to a really fancy party or something, not so much wedding material. But maybe that's just me -- it was definitely gorgeous nonetheless.

But I still had my appointment at David's, and we were making great timing. At 1 p.m. we stepped inside, and it was way brighter and bigger than Wedding Inspirations. A sad but true aspect with bridal boutiques -- the smaller ones are going out of business because of big ones like these. But on the plus side, I got to try on wayy more gowns, with a lot more room, and a fitted skirt and bra to go underneath all the dresses. Something they didn't provide at the smaller shop. And girls, can I just say, I needed a little bit of help on the cleavage department, so it was nice to have that!

But I digress...I must have tried on at least 15 or so gowns. They gave me their catalog upon arriving, and told me to check any dresses that I wanted to try on. It was every girl's dream to check off as many as I wanted to try on!! So cool. However, looking back, that may not have helped! By the 5th dress, I was so overwhelmed. All the gowns started blending in, and even Mom had trouble differentiating between number 4 and number 6. I hadn't yet found The One, and I was so desperate to! Mom, Harrison, and Steve were so great -- they gave wonderful advice and really helped me narrow it down. After all, I thought I was going to be able to find the perfect gown, and be done with the shopping all in one day. I didn't realize how naive that mode of thinking was...

I finally was able to narrow it down to one dress -- however it wasn't the one I had set out looking for at the beginning of the day, and that's what both frustrated and perplexed me. I really liked it, but I didn't love it. And I wanted, I needed to love my wedding dress. So, we left, 3 1/2 hours later with no dress and even more confusion than I wanted to bargain with. I figured I needed a night to think everything over, and I would go back the next day to look at the sale items and any I may have overlooked.

Oh, and just so you know, the other reason why I thought I needed to buy my dress all in one outing was because the women helping me at each store put a decent amount of pressure on me, saying I HAD to order it within a day or two to get it in time. That didn't help in alleviating any stress, let me tell you! But, I felt that if I was this unsure about the dress, then I didn't need to be buying it immediately.

So, to make this post even longer, let me tell you what happened today! After work, I venture back over to David's Bridal, with an open, more at ease mind, just to see what's on sale, and to see about some items I wanted to try on after looking at their website a bit more last night (a bit obsessively, perhaps, but whatev). It was kind of nice going in by myself to be honest, because I didn't feel like I needed to impress anyone -- just myself. I picked out about 4 dresses that I thought were a good mix of the styles I'd been trying on the day before, and into the dressing room I went!

It was the third dress that struck my attention. It was the perfect mix of styles (of which I unfortunately can't go into too much detail, for fear a certain fiance might read!), it was gorgeous, and it made me feel beautiful. For some reason, I instantly had a feeling that this was going to be the one. I had always heard that before, that when brides try on The Dress, they instantly know. I thought it was a bunch of bologna, but it is true! It just feels right.

And so, I think I may have found My Dress. It took a couple hours, some confusion, a pile of frustration, and a touch of panic, but I now have some peace of mind.

**Oh, and thank you so much for all your comments and input from the photos I sent you guys!! It had helped a ton!**

Our wedding website on The Knot

So guess who's taking part in the wedding website?? Mike! I gave him my password, and now he's able to make edits, changes, additions, and all sorts of things to our wedding website. It's great because I feel like if I'm on there making updates, I feel I'm neglecting my blog, and vice versa...

Here's a better photo of Deerpark he added to the "Reception" page on the site...very pretty! (He must have access to some photos I don't — him being a Biltmore employee and everything.)

Another update — we now know who will be our officiant and pastor for the ceremony! It will be Father Joel from Mike's church growing up. Fortunately I've had the opportunity to meet him a couple of times before, and he is such a sweet person. I'm excited to get to know him more as the months go by! So, one more thing has officially been crossed off our list!

It's been a while...but

I've finally finished The Knot website for me and Mike. Not sure how useful it will be other than sharing our registry with others, but...we'll see. I will admit though, it is a bit difficult to keep up with a blog and a website at once. It was pretty fun setting up the design of the site. There were some places where I had to write about how me and Mike met, how he proposed, etc. that took some time writing (I didn't want to make it too cheesy!), so in that respect, it was a bit of a time commitment. But hopefully it will keep us that much more organized through all of this. Here's a link where you can check it out:

Our Wedding Website on The Knot.com

On another note, we are honing in on finding a photographer, have found our DJ/Entertainment peeps, and have a meeting with a florist/wedding planners next Wednesday. Their business is BobbyMark's Designs. They're an awesome gay couple who are pretty hilarious and who I think would be a riot to work with! I actually met them through Sophie, where I interviewed them for an article in our February issue. Who knew my job would coincide with all this wedding stuff?! I'd say that was a freebie, to be sure!

Here's BobbyMark's Designs website -- they're super talented. (Hopefully they won't be too out of our  price range...hopefully)

http://www.bobbymarksdesigns.com/bobbymarksdesigns/

As for the photographer options, we're still in the midst of looking at our options, since photographers seem to be way up on the totem pole in terms of cost...here are two we are looking at:

Holly Czuba

Kirsten Payton

Holly is actually a friend of Mike's brother, Chris. Kirsten is a freelance photographer at Sophie Magazine and has been shooting weddings for a couple of years now -- I think she'd do a great job!

And then there's the dress...I actually have two appointments this coming Sunday at a bridal boutique called Wedding Inspirations and one at David's Bridal -- one of only two bridal shops in Asheville! I kind of couldn't believe that...I guess if I don't find anything I fall in love with this weekend, there will be a roadtrip in the future! Anyone interested in coming along? :)

Until the next post!

Contract with Biltmore has been signed!

This morning, Mike and I officially signed our contract with Biltmore to have it at their Deerpark Restaurant Venue. There weren't too many pictures I could find on Biltmore's website, but there is an awesome virtual tour you can take of the space. It's gorgeous!! I can't quite believe we are actually having it there!

I love all the green vines and twinkle lights up in the rafters — they are up year-round so they'll be up for our wedding! This is a nighttime shot, so you can't quite get the feel of how the outside and the inside co-mingle. The virtual tour is way better for that:

Deerpark Virtual Tour

If you click on the link below, you'll find a Biltmore Weddings video. The first time Mike and I watched it (about 3 months ago!), we got chills!

Weddings at Biltmore video

I just want to thank Tom Ruff, Beth Poslusny, and Nicole Bloom, of Biltmore's Guest Operations and Catering, for making this all happen for us!!! We are so incredibly grateful and can't believe how lucky we are to have a Biltmore wedding!