The Bride's Log

Buydirectbridals No More

2008-01-02T16:09:00.000-05:00

I received an e-mail from a man whose bride-to-be had decided to go the route I did with her wedding dress and buy it from eBay seller, buydirectbridals, a few months ago. As I understand it she did end up getting her dress with not too much time to spare. He e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that it seems as if Joyce has gone out of business around October as evident by her eBay feedback: http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&ftab=AllFeedback&userid=buydirectbridals&iid=-1&de=off&items=25&interval=0&page=1

It looks like she took some people's money and left some brides in a bad way. Good riddance and all those of you like me who were able to get their dresses and cheaply consider yourself lucky.

One Year Ago

2007-09-30T19:18:00.001-05:00

Ryan and I just finished eating the top layer of our original wedding cake. I had no intention of keeping with that tradition but it turns out that my mom saved it for us so on my trip home last weekend I took it back home. The cake was just as yummy and moist as it was a year ago. Can't say enough about Jaime's Bakeshop! I also brought home a bottle of the 'champagne' that one of my coworkers got us a half case of as a wedding gift. We are drinking it out of our Crate and Barrel freebie glasses that we got for going to their Registering Event just like we did a year ago.

A year ago. . that's so crazy. The year has flown by. We are celebrating our one-year in a week as we are heading to Italy as our vacation this year. We have both been incredibly busy with work and our new hobby of cycling. We're now looking at perhaps buying a place of our own once we get back from Italy.

Our first year of married life has been fairly the same as all the other years we've been together. I think I may nag him more but in my defense only because he seems to listen less. We bought a new car since getting married last year and we're now a 2-car household. Ryan switched companies (to mine) and so we also spend a lot of time together even when we're at work. Our kitchen is complete thanks to all our wedding gifts and we are definitely experimenting a lot with cuisine.

Upon reflection, I'm so glad that wedding planning is well behind me. The picking of vendors wasn't so bad but the logistics, the stress, and some of the emotional turmoil are things I don't want to relive. Because I prefer not to be the center of attention I had a hard time often. As an introvert I needed plenty of recovery time after such a crazy week and I think our Bali Honeymoon helped with that definitely.

It's been a wonderful year and we think that's because most of the kinks were worked out well before we got married and I like that. I couldn't imagine the stress of being married and living with him for the first time. Now, 6 years later, we are in a groove. Maybe in the next year or two we'll start our family. My stipulation is that I want a place of our own first and we seem to be in line with that. Here's to many happy years together!

Liquor License Obtained!

2006-08-14T22:58:00.000-05:00

We're official to host our own alcohol at the wedding. Come thirsty!

2 Months, 5 Days - eBay Seller buydirectbridals

2006-07-25T01:39:00.000-05:00

Insomnia is the worst. Wedding-planning-induced insomnia complete with headache is even more worse. I thought I'd take advantage of the time that my mind will not shut up to do some much needed updates.

First, the dress. I ordered the dress almost exactly 4 months ago. I FINALLY received a tracking number from the seller. This has been one of the most nerve-wracking things about my wedding-planning venture thus far. To recap, I ordered the dress online from an eBay seller, buydirectbridals (Joyce). They estimated a completion date of mid-June to me. They told me to check back the first week of May and that they would be "happy to provide you with an update." May rolls around so I fire off E-mail #1. No response. I check out the seller on eBay again. Still more mixed feedback from both happy and disgruntled users. E-mail #2 . . . nothing. I remain cautiously optimistic. Mid-June rolls around . . . you guessed it, nothing. At this point I'm starting to go through the Dispute process on Paypal which is how I paid for the dress. I come across a phone number for the seller. I contact a few other buyers from buydirectbridals that have left feedback for Joyce after being contacted by one. I get the sense that more often than not she does get dresses to the brides but not always in the time given and almost right up until the date of some weddings. Now I ordered this dress 6 months in advance and thought that would be PLENTY of time.

The 90-day mark from when I bought the dress from the seller nears. I send an e-mail warning of my pending negative feedback if I don't hear from them that week. Of course, I don't. The negative feedback goes on and then I start calling them armed with a phone number given to me by another buyer as well as Paypal. Surprisingly, a man named, Reman, answers the phone. After all that lack of communication I am surprised to actually get in contact with someone. He tells me that the manufacturer, Alfred Angelo, is running behind and is roughly 10 days behind. He also tells me that calling them is the best way to contact them. Funnily enough, they never give you a phone number to call them. Had I not gone looking for one I would have never found them. So he puts me off for another 2 weeks essentially. It is now the beginning of July. I call the same number since I'd been having such good success thus far. Reman answers again. This time my dress will be available July 15th. I tell him that I will call back closer to that date and that I am incredibly scared that I'm not going to get my dress in time. He assures me he is working on it.

Meanwhile, they leave negative feedback on my once-steller eBay rating essentially because I left them bad feedback. They have nothing to complain about. I paid, I waited patiently, I never yelled nor threatened any kind of legal action. They actually pay SquareTrade for their services. SquareTrade essentially acts as mediator for negative feedback and maybe some other actions. The thing is, if these people had just stayed on top of the communication and been honest, I'm sure that they would receive a lot less negative feedback. They could save themselves the money.

I call July 15th. By now, Reman knows who I am. This time he tells me that the dress has been shipped to them and they are awaiting its arrival and that they should get it by the end of the week. So I call back at the beginning of the following week which is now last week. They haven't received it yet but promise me that as soon as it comes in they will send me a tracking number via e-mail. I wait with bated breath at this point. All this time I'd been trying to keep all this from Ryan because he would get very upset about it. Not that I blame him at all but I still had a glimmer of hope. Today he tells me that if I don't get a tracking number by Saturday to proceed with trying to get my money back and cancelling the order. After coming back from traveling, I check my e-mail. There, waiting in my Inbox, is the e-mail I'd been waiting for for MONTHS, complete with tracking number. It should be delivered on Thursday to my mom's. I feel a huge amount of relief but I don't feel that I'll be out of the woods yet until I get that dress and see it is exactly what I ordered but from what some of the other eBay buyers have told me their dresses were exactly what they ordered.

I know that most girls are on their first and second fittings by now. I called the seamstress back home (Eileen's Originals) and asked them what the last possible date was to turn in a dress for alterations and they roughly said 30 days. I should be good then. That was the do or die date.

I will be seeing my family this weekend as they are coming up to visit me. I'm going to have my mom bring the dress up so I can try it on.

I don't know what reasons Joyce and Reman have for running their business the way they do. I say, if you do decide to buy from them, place your order WELL in advance. I gave them 6 months and I'm cutting it pretty close by normal bridal gown standards. I paid roughly half of what it retails at the stores. If the dress is all that I expect it to be then the price was worth it. The stress and worry though definitely was not. Update on the dress soon. . .

Grow, hair, grow!!

2006-05-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

I'm seriously HATING my hair right now. I'm growing it to at least my shoulders for the wedding finally after hmm-haaing over it for a few months now. It's taking all my willpower not to cut it! I hate how it's in that in-between stage right now. I like how it is in the profile picture for the blog but I think it's too short for the wedding dress. Sighhh . . . grow already!

Jaime's Bakeshop

2006-05-08T22:29:00.000-05:00

Ryan and I were not really big into wedding cake but the Moms insisted and so now we're having a bigger cake than we intended. That being said, I am now freakin' obsessed with a cake. Don't ask me why, I don't know! Here are pics of cakes I took at Jaime's Bakeshop when I went to visit with my camera phone:

Here are pics of cake that I like:

Maybe I'll get one to match my dress instead:

Someone please stop me!

My Makeup Artist

2006-05-08T21:41:00.000-05:00

I went back for my makeup trial at the MAC counter in Nordstroms in downtown Norfolk Easter weekend and I took Joy with me. This is where I met Sara Carden who did my makeup. She was a perfectionist which worked out very well for me. She isn't a freelance artist but I LOVE what she did to me. She really made my eyes POP. I loved it so much that I asked her what she'd charge me for doing my makeup the day of the wedding and I loved her price and Joy loved her too that she wants her to do her makeup as well. I am now officially in love with MAC makeup. I bought their foundation, concealer, and pressed powder essentially. Next on my shopping list is their Oil Control lotion which I was given a sample of and their blush in Mocha. I wear my foundation every day and it really looks so awesome. The best thing is that it's long-lasting. I trial-ran the makeup that day to see what kind of coverage I'd get at the end of the day. I came home to Ryan a few hours later and his reaction to what she did was more than worth it. He loved it! That's how I know I've picked the right everything. . . man included. ;)

Tired

2006-04-12T21:50:00.000-05:00

I have some good posts or two waiting in Draft mode but I'm just really tired. I'm tryin' to catch up to the rest of my life right now. We've just moved and the place is great albeit the walls are a bit thinner than our last place. We're still adjusting to how mornings work here with our neighbors and the sun shining into our bedroom to wake us up. It's nice to get me up at 7 am SOMETIMES but not all the time. I can't wait to put up drapes, one day, when I have the time to go find some. And money's low for me right now because I signed up for some personal training sessions and rent is a bit more expensive now for me. I'm tired, really tired but the wedding bug has bitten me hard! :) Hope to update soon!

6 Months!!

2006-04-01T01:13:00.000-05:00

So I took of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week with the blessing of my boss and used up the 3 Paid Personal days that I was going to lose April 1st if I didn't use them. This time off actually couldn't have come at a better time considering everything going on with us right now. We are getting ready to move to a bigger place a bit further from the city. We're both really busy at work and to top it all off we're also planning our wedding. Oh, and I had a bit of car trouble when some woman hit my parked car outside of our apartment. So between talking to insurance people all day and taking care of the every now and again business with having to deal with people for wedding things, I just felt like there was so much to do and in so little time especially because for me personally we're in the midst of a big push at the moment. I almost expected my boss to tell me that I couldn't take off these three days but thankfully he did.

Wednesday I drove around getting an estimate on my car and then drove home to Va Beach. Then Thursday I managed to visit the cake baker that I'm going to go with (Jaime's Bakeshop) and visit one florist (Bloom on Granby St. in Norfolk). It was a bit of a bust because I was just so tired from my lack of sleep the night before that I didn't get as early a start as I would have liked. Actually, this lack of sleep trend is something that Ryan and I have been wrestling with the past couple of weeks. With all that's been going on we find it hard to sleep at night and one of us is always restless and always waking up the other one who is fitfully sleeping as is. We've been having to take turns on the couch some days. I went to bed early Thursday night because it finally caught up with me. Friday I got an early start like I had wanted.

My first stop was to the thrift store on the way to the church to drop off a few things I had forgotten to take during last weekend's trip to the thrift store. Then I went to the church to drop off our paperwork for getting married in the church even though I could have mailed it. Little did I know that the church office is closed on Fridays. Luckily for me, a woman who worked at the church had just finished locking up the office and was trying to shoo me away. I told her that i didn't realize that the church ofifice was closed on Fridays and that I had wedding paperwork to turn in and that I was out of town. So, bless her heart, she relents. She lets me into the office, unmans the alarm, drops all the stuff she was carrying, and writes a note for the lady who takes the paperwork. I thank her profusely and then offer to help take some of the things she was carrying as she remans the alarm to lock up the office. As we are walking out of the office she says to me, "God must really want you to marry this man. What timing you had!" I thought about what she said and realized that it was really good timing. At first I went in the wrong entrance to the church and had to drive around but only after sitting in my car a minute wondering if I should just park it where it is and walk to the office. I had also stopped at that thrift store on my way in. Had I been a minute earlier or a minute later, I might have missed her coming out of the office. It was one of my strokes of luck for the day. (And yes, I realize I could have easily mailed them but I did feel uneasy about them.)

The next stop was to Norfolk Wholesale Florist in downtown Norfolk. I found some really good stuff there and took a look at their inventory for flowers. Wholesale really is the way to go. I am wondering if I should just buy a bunch of flowers and make all the arrangements for the bridal party myself. They have gorgeous flowers in an array of colors. Lucky for me they are open for a short time on Saturdays so I can set up consultations with them on weekends since I don't relish taking anymore days off than I have to.

On my way out of downtown I decided to stop at the Nordstrom and talk to someone about a makeup consultation. I stopped at the MAC counter but was told by some lady working in the area that I will have to make an appointment for a consultation because they are so busy right now and on weekends in general. That poses a problem since I am a weekend-planning bride being out of town and all. She booked me for the Saturday before Easter but I'm not sure yet if I'm going to keep it. I understand that at the counter they tend to do pretty garish things to you but if you buy the makeup and apply it yourself at home that it looks much better. I need to check out The Knot for specific makeup artist recommendations in the area again.

I then stopped at my mom's jeweler, Rinehart Brothers, who did the great work on my ring twice now. They are in a small office in a nondescript office building in Janaf Shopping Center. They don't advertise and they get most of their business from word-of-mouth. It is a family owned store, a mother, father, and a son. The son, Justin, is who did the work on my ring. I was happy to finally introduce myself to him and then started looking at wedding bands. After some deliberation (I wasn't in there all day) I finally decided what band I wanted. I'll post pictures of some similar ones later. He was very patient and offered good feedback. I really like feedback. I have a hard time making decisions without feedback. I got what I think is a really great deal! They can pretty much do anything you want and find something to match your desires. They also come reasonably priced and I didn't even have to put anything down to put in an order. It was just the way I like to work with people, especially jewelers. I've been put off by those chain jewelers that usually reside in the malls. They are either idiots or disinterested. I just wish this place was open on weekends too. Now we have to get a band for Ryan.

This post is so long overdue in being finished that I'm posting it unfinished like this.

Ordered My Dress!

2006-03-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

I just ordered my dress today from buydirectbridals on eBay. The dress will cost me less than $500 which is a little more than half of the retail price I've been quoted. I love a good deal!

Here's a preview:

My Boss Rocks!

2006-03-21T13:53:00.000-05:00

Concerning taking time off to use up my Personal Absences that I'm going to lose April 1st anyway . . .

"Well, we will miss you, and TETAS and IRS will miss you. But, wedding planning is important too! ;)"

And my boss is male!

Full Swing!

2006-01-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

I know I said that I had upated the Bride Log but then didn't. I started to but then never finished it.

So things have definitely been moving in the Wedding Planning department since the New Year. Over Thanksgiving I tried some dresses on and I think I may have found the one. I am going to keep looking since I haven't really gone dress shopping with my mom and I don't want to rob her of the experience. We're moving forward with our menu. We've been talking to Shannon from Black Angus Catering and the first menu she proposed was almost 50% that of Catering Concepts in Va Beach. Now, Ryan and I were both impressed with the way Catering Concepts handled their business and their menu definitely did not seem cookie cutter but their prices were really high. Plus, with Black Angus it seems like we just get a lot more bang for the buck. For one thing, they will setup our centerpieces for us without extra charge. Also, gratuity is included in our cost. So, I guess once we pin down a menu, I guess we'll book them. They do so many weddings at the Contemporary Art Center.

We've also started thinking about our registry. We literally need EVERYTHING. We are still working with mostly hand-me-downs from college. I'm definitely excited at the prospect of being able to finally consider getting new things that would make our lives easier. Of course, we need a bigger place and we're hoping that is something that will change for us in the next few months. We'll most likely rent but that's fine for now. We just want a bigger place with at least a den if not two bedrooms and that will let us have Aja with us. Anyway, back to the registry. So, I know there isn't a Crate & Barrel everywhere but we really like the store and it's not as expensive as Pottery Barn. They have these sessions called Sunday Morning Engagements where couples planning a wedding can find out about registering at Crate and Barrel. I have us slated for Feb 19th at the one up the street from us.

I also went ahead and signed us up for those premarital classes required by the Catholic church. After talking to a few people, mostly Ryan's friends who had to go through it and have gotten engaged in the last year or two, I decided to sign us up for the one that is given here by the Arlington diocese. It seems a lot less painful than some of the other ones that are out there. We are basically doing a Friday evening and Saturday day. We're signed up for March 3rd and 4th in McLean.

I've also been doing some research for Ryan's family. They are considering renting a beach house for the week of our wedding. I really have found some great places big enough for two or three families to share and the nice thing is that since our wedding is in late September we are considered off-season and the rates are less. If this is a route that you are considering, please make sure you contact me so that I can point you in the right direction because I don't want you to end up too far from the festivities.

I am foregoing watching the Steelers in the playoffs this weekend to attend the Karen Eagle bridal show in Norfolk this weekend. Since I am still looking for a florist and some information about transportation, I thought, "Why not?" I don't really feel I need to go but again I would like to do this for my mom and anyone else willing to come along.

Notice that I didn't say that I was still looking for a DJ. Well, I think I'm not anymore. I went on TheKnot.com and got this great recommendation for Rod Canon from Positive Vibes. The wedding that he did had a mixed group like ours and when I received a PDF brochure and application they listed on there that they have music for Filipino line dances! LOL Ok, if you're not Filipino or have never been to a Filipino shindig where they do the line dances then you won't understand but for all those of you who know what I'm talking about should know what I'm talking about. Not that I couldn't just get the music from Joy's dad and have him bring a CD to the wedding. ;) They are also the cheapest among the three quotes I have received from DJs. AND ... their deposit is only $75! Woo hoo!

This past Saturday I attended a wedding invite workshop at the Paper Source in Georgetown. I got some AWESOME ideas and had a lot of fun! Maybe I'll get a picture up of one of the things we made. I also made a new friend there who happened to be getting married in Va Beach this year as well. It's always nice to have people to talk wedding stuff too especially if you're in the same area.

I'm also starting to go to the gym more regularly again. The holidays were NOT good to me. Or rather I wasn't good to them maybe.

So that is my long over-due update. I think that I'll start posting more regularly now that we're in the full swing of things. Things seem to be coming together but there's still so far to go. Stay tuned!

Overdue Update

2005-11-22T22:16:00.000-05:00

So where was I? Ah yes, wedding planning. That took a bit of a backseat there for a while. I finally dragged my butt and registered for my certification exam on Oct 23rd and am now officially a Certified Information Systems Security Professional! W00 h00! I've also been busy at work. I have been saying that for months now, haven't I? I think I was misinformed when someone told me that life slows down once you're out of school. Or maybe that was just my assumption. =P

Hmmm, it would seem that I didn't discuss our lantern issue for our centerpieces. We ordered one off eBay just to see one in person and then we decided to go ahead and buy more. I ordered from two vendors and both of them had to cancel on me because they were backordered. I was told to check back at the end of September, and then at the end of October, and finally at the end of November. I got an e-mail from one of the sellers yesterday saying that they were now re-stocked! So we jumped on them and bought two lots of 10 which will come to a grand total of $5.50 each once shipping and such is incurrred. So that's ONE thing off at least that list! They'll be here in 7-14 days from Nova Scotia. :-)

We are spending Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh so I thought I'd get a move on on those wedding dresses. I've lined up Saturday with Ryan's mom and his sister to hit some stores and hopefully try on some dresses I've been eyeing.

Speaking of wedding dresses, I managed to I believe GAIN weight during the studying of my certification. I wasn't alone in that either since my coworker that I went through that with also gained weight. And for the LIFE of me I CANNOT get motivated. I'm finally starting to tweak my eating habits again but I cannot consistently get myself to the gym. It really is maddening! I really need to get in gear. Maybe trying on dresses will motivate me. I want it back!

Another thing on my list of desires is that of a place of our own. I really would LOVE to have a place we own by the time we get married. I am hoping that that can happen sooner rather than later! I miss my dog and I want to re-do our space. I want to be able to entertain and cook together in the kitchen. Cooking in our kitchen is no comparison to cooking in my parents' kitchen.

One day . . .

Also, my little niece was born this morning at just before 6 am! Little Carmen weighed in at 6 lbs and 12 oz and was in fine health as is my sister. She had an amazingly easy and short delivery. I think my mom feels shafted since she was in unimaginable pain when she had the three of us. I'll get to meet my little niece in a few weeks.

So that's it for now . . . hope to have more soon.

I HEART My Photographer!!

2005-10-02T01:13:00.000-05:00

Yes, I realize it is past 2 am EST but I think it was the Turkish coffee that Kristine gave me that has kept me up. I'm slowly starting to feel the vestiges of sleepiness at the edge of my mind but until then . . .

I've been meaning to post this but only got around to it now. So, I came home the other night from a long day followed by a flag football game in which we lost but I caught the ball. I was tired and hungry and I couldn't park right outside of our apartment and had to park a few blocks away so I was pretty crabby as I walked into the door last night. The first thing I see when I walk in is this medium-sized box on the floor. Ryan goes, "You got a gift and it's not from me." I'm puzzled and the label says that the package is from wine.com. There is a shipping label with a miniature note attached so I tear into that first and discover that it was from Srinu and his wife, Amy, basically giving us well-wishes and thanking us for the opportunity. It was such a personal gesture. Inside was a gift basket with some red wine, cheee, crackers, seasoned almonds, and Ghirardelli chocolate! It looked something like the one shown below but it had less stuff but the basket was exactly the same and everything:

That was probably like the first time in this whole wedding-planning process that I didn't feel like 'just some other bride.' It can be a fairly impersonal wedding-planning world even though everyone touts that they personalize. So they've definitely raised the bar for the other vendors we will eventually end up booking in the next year or so. I really appreciate what the Regeti's did and am even MORE excited to work with them. Ryan was really impressed with the gesture as well. They really help make me think that I've made the right decision with booking them. I'm sure I won't be disappointed . . . .

ONE YEAR!!

2005-09-30T16:42:00.000-05:00

Ryan: oh wow
Ryan: we get married in one year
Angel: WE DO!!!!
Ryan: wow...
Angel: LOL
Angel: you can still back out you know
Angel:
Ryan: man, that's crazy
Ryan: lol
Ryan: no chance, I love my asian too much
Ryan: :-D

Photographer Booked & Other Updates

2005-09-26T22:35:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry to all you who have been checking in for an update and finding nothing new. August and September proved to be a slow month in our wedding planning agenda for numerous reasons. Ryan's got a big deadline next month for work so he's been working ungodly hours. I'm surprised to not find him working at 8pm when I get home from work/gym/game. I've been pretty busy at work myself and some weeks work longer hours. Plus, we were still over a year out and felt that for the most part we had booked the big things.

Now, we're 5 days till the year-mark and the weather is getting cooler and fall really seems to be here. Football has started again (Go Hokies! Go Steelers!) and we've caught glimpses of the leaves turning color. Our favorite season seems to be right around the bend even though we're officially into fall according to the calendar. It's a very sentimental time for us because we first started dating in the fall so some of our best memories are emersed in the season from camping trips to tailgates and football games. We also did a few autumn hikes as well. I am hoping that we get to do some of those this year too. So this time next year we will be at the closing stages of our wedding planning and anxiously awaiting our wedding guests from out of town. It will be wonderful!

I know I've been a Slacker Bride but not updating anything and it seems like I haven't done A THING concerning the wedding, but that's not true, I just get lazy with posting sometimes. On Labor Day weekend I worked on some potential Save the Date magnets. We ultimately have decided that we're going to redesign them or just not do them at all (saves money ;)). I was going to post them but it seems I'm having some trouble doing that so I'll have to save that for another day.

The other big thing that I've done since last posting was book a photographer like I had said I would try to do. I ended up going with a photographer that I didn't even mention on my previous post. I found this great website for wedding photojournalists, The Wedding Photojournalists Association, and came across some great photographers for great websites. I had inquired to Corbin Harris on that list and he ended up being unavailable and referring me to the photographer I eventually chose, Srinu Regeti, at Regeti's Photography. You can check out his blog at http://regetisphotography.blogspot.com. He and his wife are a great team and I love his work and think he is really talented. I love how he works with natural light, that's how I work too! He is also not insanely expensive but I'm sure in a few years he will be since he is just starting out. I really had to move on him because I started thinking that if I waited I would end up paying probably twice as much for the look I like or less-than-stellar pictures for the price that I booked Srinu at. Well, it also helped that there were two other brides inquiring on my date. ;) I just couldn't let this opportunity go by and plus it really felt good to have that decision behind me. Since I really like to do creative things like scrapbooking or these blogs on my own I went with their Scrapbooking package which doesn't get me a whole lot of extras but it gets me that which I am most concerned like copyright release on all the pictures he takes of our day. He does really great work with Photoshop, I may have to ask him to teach me some of his tricks. ;) Ryan and I are still undecided on engagement photos but next year we may really want to take them. I really can't wait to work with Srinu and his wife, Amy. I spent a good hour talking to her when I booked their services. I think she's secretly a selling point. ;)

Well, it looks like I was much more ambitious tonight then I thought I was going to be with all the updating. I signed up to take my certification exam at the end of next month so I really need to buckle down and study especially since the fee was $499! Ouch!! If I pass though, I believe my company will pay for it. Wish me luck and get on me to study!!

Shopping for Photographers

2005-08-26T19:32:00.000-05:00

I know I'm probably way ahead of myself when it comes to a photographer but it's one of those things that I can do without a lot of legwork and can just do online.

Linda Wallace Photography - recommended to me by my friend at work, Julia, who is getting married a couple of weeks before me. Her prices were really reasonable. Unfortunately, Linda is not available our weekend but I love her style.

Eleise Theuer Photography -I REALLY love her style and she seems to have great packages. Plus, you can buy your pictures from her. Her prices are sorta high but maybe we'll be able to work something out. And she's available on our date. I really like how she has an unobtrusive look to her pictures.

David Schwartz Photography

Heather Hughes Photography - a photojournalist who looks like she'll have great rates and is willing to spend the whole day with us!

Mary Basnight Photography - again another photographer I love. She is in the Outer Banks but is willing to travel. Hopefully, her prices are reasonable.

Jon Abrahams - He photographed my brother's wedding and was a lot of fun. I should check to see if he's available on our date.

I really like the photojournalistic look. Here are some pictures that I've taken myself and are the kind of look I'm going for.

Weddings on the Brain!

2005-07-14T22:42:00.000-05:00

I've worked like the dickens all week at work and managed NOT to get side-tracked by wedding stuff. I was REALLY distracted by wedding planning stuff since probably the day Ryan put this ring on my finger and I think it came back to bite me in the ass because this week all these deadlines crept up on me. I was not at all happy with myself! It's also my 6-month self-assessment time at work so all this could not have come at a worse time. Oh, and I had some 'feminine issues' going on as well. So here Friday is tomorrow and the new Harry Potter book comes out, yeay! We're also going to Shane and Tammy's wedding down in Blacksburg and I can't wait. We have another wedding in two weeks we're going to as well. So that is why I have weddings on the brain. It was actually sorta nice to not have to think about my wedding for a week, not that I DIDN'T think about it but it was the first time in a while that I didn't feel CONSUMED by it. But I really need to get my act together I think.

So last weekend when we went home, I got a lot of "color" things done for the wedding. I went to David's Bridal and got a shoe-dye swatch of the plum. The plum looks a bit darker on satin material than on the other material so it looks really dark when I show it to people. I also picked up a bunch of paint swatches from Home Depot. I picked some up from the Ralph Lauren display because it was the closest thing to me and chose a few. The ones Ryan and I decided on were Hunter Orange, Nairobi Dusk, and British Racing Green. The colors on the website look nothing like the swatches so it's not even worth posting.

I also went to the Garden Ridge back home and visited their MASSIVE silk florals section. I came home with these beautiful orange gerber daisies and some flowers I THOUGHT were purple at the store but when I took them home they had a bit more of a red tint to them. I was disappointed but happy to find the orange. My dad even thought they were real and urged me to put them in water. Hee hee!

I also went and tried on some more dresses. I'm pretty much sold on a champagne-colored dress. I'll have a whole separate post/blog section just for my dress search so don't you fret!

Extreme Makeover Anyone?

2005-07-08T23:07:00.000-05:00

So, um, I found this e-mail in my mailbox stating:

"Hello there! ... Sorry for busting in like this, but hear me out...I am a producer with a popular prime time Network reality show and we are looking for engaged couples getting married in 2006. In searching for candidates, I ran into your blog and discovered that you are getting married and would love to have a dream wedding at no cost to you. Sounds like you might be a match! In reading your blog, I also found that you are a very deserving person, which is high on the list of what we expect from our cast members. Email me and I'll fill you in on the scoop. Basically, you and your fiance might have a chance at a fairy tale dream wedding, all expenses paid! Key here is that both of you would have to undergo a makeover before walking down the aisle. Email me at _____@exmcasting if you're interested in hearing more about this opportunity. FYI - I have no clue if you or your fiance could use a makeover, but it is a popular 'to do' item on many brides' 'to do' list!"

So after reading this incredulously to Ryan I decided to research. The 'popular prime time Network' is ABC and the 'reality show' is Extreme Makeover. (Yes, they do Extreme Home Makeover, too). It even states on their website that they are looking for an engaged couple getting married in 2006.

Ok, a makeover is nice and all but SURGERY!?!?! I don't want to have plastic surgery done! It's a nice idea and all but a lot of the people they've had on their show look COMPLETELY different. Check it out for yourself! http://abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover/

Sure, I'd love to have permanent hair removal so that I don't ever have to shave ever again and some dermatology treatment would be nice but I don't want to look like a completely different person. I'm quite happy with the way that I look. Sure, I could use some improvement but I don't want to look completely different! I told my mom all this and she's like, "Ask them if they can do Moms, too!"

I think it's crazy that they solicited me via e-mail! For one thing, they found me on my anonymous blog and left me a message since basically that's the only way to get in touch with me on that blog. It's just so freakin' crazy!

Onward! ... Kinda

2005-07-08T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well, Ryan and I met with the lady at the Contemporary Art Center of Va this afternoon. Yes, we were just here Monday but Ryan really wanted to meet with her pretty quickly. We have had to change our date from the 16th to the 30th to accomodate both the church and both of our potential reception sites. More time to plan!

The lady, Irene, was really nice! She really had a lot to say about anything and everything. She was a sweet, German lady who has coordinated a lot of events at the CACV. She had a good idea of who was a good caterer to have based on what other brides and even people who work the events at CACV told her. While we were meeting with her they were setting up a ceremony and reception for later that evening. Black Angus was the caterer for that reception as well as for the reception that we peeked in at on July 2nd. They are definitely a contender!

Ryan's concern about CACV is that there is no holding room for the bridal party. To me that is not such a big deal but to him it is. I really am glad that he is playing a pretty active role in all this because I know he has a certain standard that he wants met and I think he is best and picking and choosing what it is that he wants. He thinks I'm indecisive about things but generally I am not. It's just that when it comes to things that concern him too I have to take extra consideration and even second guess because he likes/wants things a certain way. There's no fault at wanting perfection . . . at least at this stage in the game. Talk to me in about a year and see if I'm still this cheery.

But we're pretty much set on CACV. We're holding the 30th right now at both CACV and the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk. As beautiful as Chrysler is we think that the CACV is a bit more 'us'.

Since at both places we get to provide our own alcohol I stopped at the liquor store at the Norfolk Naval base to check on prices since I was having lunch with Joy on the base anyway. You gotta love cheap, tax-free alcohol! There should be more than enough for everyone.

I also stopped at David's Bridal to get a swatch on their plum color since I will be using that for the bridesmaid dresses. I'm just going to let them choose their own but it has to be in THAT color at David's Bridal. The other colors for the wedding are going to be a hunter/forest green and orange for things like the flowers and leaves. We are also going for an Autumn motif so I've been having a lot of fun looking at things for that. I can't wait for all the Fall decoration stuff to go on sale!!!

Ryan and I have also been crunching numbers behind the scenes but we're both really excited for everyone to join in our special day . . . more updates to come!

Battle of the Dates!

2005-06-23T23:21:00.000-05:00

So we finally met with Father Facura to set the date. We met him at the church and he meets with each of us separately and then together. He basically went down a list of questions like was I free to marry, was I there of my own free will, etc. etc. after swearing on the Bible. When it was Ryan's turn Father Facura gave him the third degree and asked him several times if he was dating anyone else and if he had a girlfriend. His reply was, "No, no, Father, she's enough for me." LOL Well, for me the paperwork is easy since I received all my sacraments at that church all the way from baptism to confirmation. We just have to take those classes sometime between now and next August.

So we requested the date we had in mind and it was all set with him. We chose the 2 PM time. Everything should be all good then, right? Well, it turns out that there's a wedding on Ryan's side of friends that may be that month and then a cousin I never talk to whose wedding might be that month as well. AND the venue that was sorta high on our list is booked already that day! Well, over a year in advance! Their other open weekends are the 30th of September which also coincides with Va Beach's Neptune Festival and October 14 and 28th. So we can either change the date or find another venue . . . hmmmm. But the fact that it was booked really made me get into gear. Now I'm like, "What if all the venues are booked?!" I know that's unrealistic but I really would feel much better just having a place booked for ourselves already.

On another note, I took my sister with me to go dress-trying-on. Unfortunately, I can't find any pictures of the dresses online nor were we able to take pictures of me trying them on which was such BS but oh well. I'm definitely not going with a white dress. I tried on some spun gold-colored dresses and they really go well with my skin tone. And surprise! Wedding dresses are actually pretty flattering. My tummy all but disappeared under there!

On that note, the past few months I feel like I've been gaining weight. The scale says I've only gained like 2 pounds and yet my pants are tight. Sighhh . . . so I decided to try Weight Watchers for a few months. I've researched it a lot and "hmmm-haaahed" over it and decide to just try it for three months. If I've lost weight then great! Today was Day 1 and it wasn't too bad. I also have been to the gym twice this week which is another plus. So we'll see where this goes. Ryan and I are trying to incorporate more vegetables in our diet so we bought a steamer. That turned out to not go so well tonight since the directions told us a time that was too long. I just reminded Ryan that it was our first time trying it and it was an experiment.

What else is on my plate? Oh yes, I need to start studying for my CISSP certification that my coworker and I are planning on taking at the beginning of August. The exam is 6 hours long! July weekends are pretty much taken up with other weddings and bridal showers. T'is the season!

And there are other things on my plate that I just won't ever talk about here that really stress me and depress me sometimes. But this is not the place to talk of such things. This is all about my wedding and its planning . . . so there. Gotta love 'blogs!

Meeting of the Parents

2005-06-12T22:49:00.000-05:00

Well, the meeting of the parents was a success like we both knew it would be! Ryan's parents came in early on Friday afternoon. We took them to Old Town, Alexandria and had dinner at a Japanese steakhouse along the waterfront. We all really enjoyed our meals. We then went walking in the more historic part of Old Town. I love Old Town because it has so much character. They have lit lanterns along the streets, I'm sure they are gas lanterns but they really add to the feel of the place. The tour leaders dressed as colonial people help a lot too. His parents really enjoyed that a lot despite the fact that it got fairly muggy when there was no breeze.

On Saturday, we took his parents on the Metro to DC and took them to see the World War 2 Memorial since that is the latest addition to the Mall area and his parents haven't been there in years. We also took them to a lot of other memorials like Jefferson's, Lincoln's, and Roosevelt's. We did A LOT of walking and by the time we came home we were all pretty sun-burnt, even me! Now THAT'S saying a lot. I have a little tan spot on my chest from my heart pendant, I tanned THAT easily! My parents rolled into the area in the late afternoon along with my doggy, Aja. We took all the parents to dinner at McCormick and Shmidt's in Crystal City. They all really hit it off! We then came back to the apartment afterwards and the 4 of them just chatted away. Since we had booked both sets of parents at the same hotel up the street they all made plans to have breakfast this morning at the hotel's continental breakfast without us and everything went well.

We took Ryan's parents to the Booz Allen Classic today since his dad LOVES golf. It was great seeing a lot of big names like Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els even though neither of them did well. His dad was like a little kid in a candy store and was so excited! I know we definitely tracked some miles walking today. My legs are COMPLETELY sore and tight and my sunburn is even MORE uncomfortable after all the sun we got today. I haven't even been to the beach yet! After Ryan and I parted ways from his parents at the tournament we met up with my parents in Fairfax where they spent the day with family friends. We showed the ring to the family, hung out for a bit, and were on our way home, completely exhausted!

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend! Everyone had a lot of fun, we spent a lot of quality time together, and the parents really liked each other and are both really excited for our wedding and the planning. Now to get my butt to bed to get some much-needed rest!

P.S. I'm a size 6!!! Yeah, I wish I meant women's clothing. I meant ring size. The ring came back from my mom's jeweler just the perfect size. $25 vs $60, my arse!

Where's My Ring?

2005-06-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

Haa haa, I was just thinking of that old Lifesavers commercial where the little boy asks the little girl to marry her and the first thing she says is, "Where's my ring?" and of course it's a Lifesaver. Haa haa, anyway, dear Leslie, my ring is with my mom right now. The week before Ryan proposed to me he had asked me what my ring size was. I thought I was a 6.5 but I really haven't worn a ring in a long time so I wasn't really sure. So the ring comes and it's just a little bit too big. Not so much that if I flung my arms around really fast or anything that it'd go flying but enough to make me worry when my hands were wet.

The day we got engaged we went to a Kays Jeweler at the mall (Tysons Corner) to ask about ring resizing and such. They guy was non-plussed when I told him we just gotten engaged. Maybe he didn't care since we didn't get the ring from him. Pah. I asked him to size the ring for me and to get my ring size. I remember him telling us that it was a 6.75. So we figured maybe Diamond.com sent us the closest thing they had since the ring was guaranteed to be shipped by Mother's Day. I remember trying on one of those ring-sizers and I thought it was a 6.5. So I thought I'm definitely a 6.5. The guy tells me it's going to be 60 bucks to resize and it would take about a week because they would have to send it away to get done. I'm like, "Well that's not too bad, I guess" but of course I had nothing to compare it to since I'd never gotten a ring resized before. I wasn't willing to part with the ring just yet (hey, I'd just gotten it!) and so I said we'd be back sometime down the road. We decided to get this tiny piece of plastic that's suppose to temporarily help keep the ring a bit more secure. The thing was freakin' 10 bucks! It worked fine for a while but then the plastic itself started getting loose. I've lost the thing twice now and it has miraculously reappeared but I got so annoyed with it that it just sits in my jewelry box now. (Ryan's mom and Renee, if you are reading this, the jewelry box has proven to be a Godsend!)

So I told my mom the story about our trip to the jeweler and she balks at the price. She's like, "My jeweler resizes my rings for only $10!" Granting of course, Ryan and I live in a place with a higher cost of living than my hometown (3.5 hours away) but my mom has been going to that jeweler for years and has resized numerous rings for her and he actually does the resizing rather than sending it away like Kays does. I'd have no idea as to who to go to here aside from just walking into a store. So I decided I'd leave it with her over Memorial week so that she could take it to her jeweler. It ended up being perfect since she was actually on vacation that week. She calls me from the jeweler the Tuesday after Memorial Day and tells me that her jeweler says the ring is a size 6.5. Then a few minutes later he says it's a 6.25. All these numbers swirling around that ring! I have NO idea what size it really is. So I was confused since the jeweler at Kays told me something different. Maybe he meant 6.25 instead of 6.75. So then I didn't know what size I should go down to. Should I just go down a quarter size? Would that be enough? Well, I'm planning on losing weight, should I go down to a 5.75? My mom and I went back and forth on the phone asking ourselves what the best size to go with was. I finally decided on 6.0. Her jeweler was only going to charge us $25 instead of $60 quoted to me by the guy at Kays! It's more than the $10 because it's platinum. I figured at that price, I could get it resized again if I had to and STILL spend less than at the Kays up here, good Lord.

So the ring has been with my mom for over a week. She will be coming here this weekend to meet with Ryan's parents and will bring the ring with her. I miss looking down at it and seeing it. When I look at it I'm reminded me of the fact that he loves me and he is committing himself to me and a life together. These are of course things I knew before the ring was given to me but now it's like a visual reminder when I look down at it, sorta like tying a string around your finger. It just makes me feel loved and puts a smile on my face.

Haa haa . .alright, a little something!

2005-06-05T23:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it would seem that I can't keep you all updated fast enough. The reason is because there just hasn't been a lot of updating going on. I've got to call the church so that I can setup an appointment with the priest. THEN we'll have a date. Our parents are meeting this upcoming weekend and I get my ring back. I'll explain everything later but I wanted to get something up and I'm exhausted. Oh yes, and may the weight-loss begin! Will explain everything soon . . . I promise!

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2005-05-30T01:01:00.000-05:00

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