Wow! It seems like a lot has been happening really quickly in the past couple of weeks. I figured it was time for a six month wedding planning check in and give everyone an update.
The Dress
Yes, I have put down the deposit on my wedding dress!!! It ended up being a style I never would have chosen for myself but looks amazingly beautiful.
It's a fit and flare by Pronovias' La Sposa, is soft french lance and has a beautiful two tiered skirt. I never imagined a gown that was so form fitting would look good on my top heavy hour glass frame but somehow it makes me look tall and skinny. Although I plan on knocking off at least 30 pounds (hopefully 50!), it looks amazing now and if something happened and I didn't lose an ounce it would still look great.
It's a fit and flare by Pronovias' La Sposa, is soft french lance and has a beautiful two tiered skirt. I never imagined a gown that was so form fitting would look good on my top heavy hour glass frame but somehow it makes me look tall and skinny. Although I plan on knocking off at least 30 pounds (hopefully 50!), it looks amazing now and if something happened and I didn't lose an ounce it would still look great.
Inspirational Gown:
Full length
Close up
Beautiful Back
My Gown
Brides by Liza will be making my dress. Unlike the sample dress, my gown with have a full corset back. The neckline won't have those odd pointy boob shields, it'll be replaced with a sweetheart neckline with delicate scalloped edges. The ribbon will also be either absent, ivory, or cornflower blue to wear during the reception. I'm leaving the train long though it'll be bustled for the reception and I think the finished product will be beautiful.
I put down the deposit on Monday and my first line fitting is October 15th. They've already put the order for the fabric in, the lace has to be partially assembled and I won't get to try it on assembled for awhile. My guess is probably December or January, but since it's all custom I'm not too worried. I really trust Liza and I know she'll do a great job.
The Photographers
I think we've finally settled on on photographers and we couldn't be happier with the decision. The photography budget was something we really struggled with since it's one of the only things you actually get to keep and have to remember after the wedding is over. At the same time, it takes a big mental adjustment to go from spending 2,000 on my first car to spending 3,675 for photography. Once we made the shift, the choice of which photographer to hire was an easy one.
Ohana Photography based out of San Diego is simply amazing. They're a husband and wife team who have done over 200 weddings, and every couple looks like they're genuinely having fun. They do the traditional group shots and formal poses for the family but the rest are directed by the personality of the couple and their creativity. The albums are really contemporary with photo covers and archival paper instead of leather and matte board and they look awesome. They also do amazing stretched canvas prints and enlargements if we decide we want some at the end. We loved every picture we saw and I think we'll be really happy with them.
For the engaged girls out there, it really really helps to meet your photographer in person in their own space. We met with David in his in home studio and seeing the floor he laid himself and the room he designed really helped us understand his creative style better. You'll also be able to tell if you'll be able to work well with them and have a good rapport. I'm expecting the proposals from them today or tomorrow and if everything looks good we'll sign the contract and make things official.
You can check out their blog at: http://ohanaphotographers.com/blog/
The Extras
The one extra we probably want more than anything is a photobooth. We love photobooths, they're candid and fun and there's something special about getting that little strip of pictures to put on your fridge. I also love that they print in duplicate so one copy goes into the guest book and the other copy goes home with the guest. This is a great way to remember who was there (it's easier to recognize a face than a name) and a way for the guests to really let loose. We'd probably have a whole box of props, hats wigs and mustaches etc to liven things up.
The Cake
The cake was also an easy choice for us. A couple months back my honey and I went cake tasting with our best man and visited a handful of bakeries in the Fallbrook-Temecula-Murrieta area. Surprisingly, the best tasting cake came from a private baker rather than a bakery and was also the most affordable. Crazy Cakes by Design is run by the wonderful and talented Monique who bakes custom cakes that are both delicious and beautiful.
We're going with an ivory, lace patterned three tier vintage inspired design. The bottom layer will be french vanilla cake with bavarian cream and fresh strawberries. The middle will be triple chocolate with bavarian cream and chocolate chips, and the top will be a mocha cake with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.
In the end, it should look something like this with a lace pattern inspired by my dress and a blue ribbon with a blue and green flower topper.
You can check out some of Monique's amazing work here: www.crazycakesbydesign.com
The Food
Being as Fallbrook is a little isolated, we were really worried we wouldn't be able to find a good restaurant to cater the reception. Luckily, my honey's step dad recommended to us a fabulous Italian restaurant called Fresco Grill just a few miles away from his ranch. We've now eaten there 3 times and each time the food was fresh, flavorful and delicious. They're also really affordable so we're definitely using them. The appetizers will be tray passed and the meal will be served buffet style, though I'm thinking it might be easier to serve the first course. I'm not sure how it would work but servers could probably ask how many salads and how many soups per table and then bring them over so we don't have a line early on.
The Menu:
Appetizers:
- Bruschetta Italiana - Garlic toasted bread topped with fresh chopped tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella
- Polpette con Salsiccia - Meatballs and Italian sausage in marinara sauce
First Course: Guest's Choice
- Insalata Noci - Mixed baby greens, walnuts, poached pears, and Gorgonzola cheese in raspberry vinaigrette
- Crab Bisque - creamy crab bisque made with fresh cracked Dungeness crab meat
Second Course: Guest's Choice
- Salmone Fresco alla Griglia - Fresh Atlantic Salmon grilled to perfection with or without lobster sauce served with caponata and mashed potatoes
- Pollo Alla Parmigiana - Lightly breaded chicken breast with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil served with spaghetti marinara.
- Ravioli al Formaggio di Capra - Goat cheese and Parmesan cheese stuffed ravioli with tomato cream sauve and fresh spinach.
The Extras
Because my honey and I are crazy, we would love to do something fun like a candy bar as well. I'm not sure how much they normally cost to operate but they look like so much fun and we're having a lot of kids who would really enjoy it. I'm thinking the staff that will be manning the buffet could switch over to doling out the candy after the meal is cleared away so we wouldn't have just a couple people grabbing everything and there would be someone to refill the jars.
So far we're thinking:
- Mini snickers - Starbursts - Big lollipops - Almond M&M's
- Mini crunch bars - Gummy bears - Red vines - York Pieces
- Swedish fish - Reese's Pieces - Jordan Almonds - Hershey's Kisses
The Flowers
Our flowers are a bit of a tricky situation. We don't have an actual florist so a family member who used to do some floral work is going to be doing our flowers for us. We'll be doing them ghetto style with our refrigerated truck making a shady pick up at 4am in down town LA. I'm not sure how this will work with placing orders since we want specific flowers but we have time to figure it out. I'm thinking delicate, muted and vintage with pops of blue with green tea roses, amnesia roses, orchids, hydrangeas and maybe a few others. The bouquets will probably double as decoration for the bridal table and I'm not sure what else we'll decorate.
Floral Inspiration
The Invitations
The invitations are another DIY project that we've been working on. We bought pre-made invitation kits from Michaels but they're very boring black and white. To spice things up, I've done a number of different things. First, I've been playing on photoshop with some designs and I think I've found one we like that adds just the right amount of blue. We replaced the included black ribbon with a sheer cornflower blue one and we ordered custom monogram labels to cover the stamp decal since the pre-made invites were technically self mailers. We also bought beautiful blue envelopes to send them in because even hand cancelled I would never trust the post office with an unprotected delicate item.
Invitation Mock-up
The RSVP, direction and accommodation cards will have the same design on a smaller scale with a scroll in opposite corners. I'll do a full blog post on the invites once we figure out the best way to print them because right now we're a bit stumped. Printing regularly cuts off 0.25" and printing borderless also cuts off 0.25". This DIY project might require a trip to the printers or a whole new printer so I'm not sure how much money it'll save in the long run.
That's all we've got for now but more is definitely coming. We're still sending out straggler Save the Dates to extra people and we haven't blocked off our rooms yet. We also haven't picked or ordered the bridesmaid dresses though I think we'll be getting to them soon. In the meantime, we have a bunch of contracts to review and sign before we can move forward :)
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