I met with the Wildflower and we talked about our colors, then at the end she asked for clarifications on the dress color. Then she said well neutral colors go better with it (i.e. coral, light orange, persimmon, pale green versus fushia and bright orange). So anyway, her proposal included a canopy with sheer green curtains and votives for the ceremony altar, 15 centerpieces, all the bouquets, bouts, and corsages, cake topper, kissing ball for flower girl, and CHAIR COVERS!! all for 1879 including tax and setup.

Now the other lady – Jordan with A Whimsy Floral will stick with the fushia and orange colors gives me the bouquets, bouts, corsages, two altar arrangements, and pew decorations, and cake topper for 885 including tax and delivery. With her price this gives me room to play with the centerpieces and purchase additional stuff. Laura at work has agreed to help me set up stuff. She’s such a sweetheart. She and I will make a trip to the farmer’s market and pick out flowers etc and she’s agreed to help with the table decorations. However, I like The Wildflower’s idea of the canopy and chair covers and centerpieces – I get more!

I’m meeting with one more florist on Thursday and hopefully make a decision soon!

Now what to do about the final stuff:

• Veil – ebay for 20 bucks or Luong Bridal for 45 bucks
• Church – contact Holy Cross Lutheran (the most we’ll spend is 1400 for the ceremony, we have the option of doing it at the country club for 500 bucks)
• Flowers – contact florists for prices on 3 bouquets and boutinierres and corsages. (limit 400 dollars)
• Centerpieces – use half standard centerpieces offered by Brookhaven, the other half will use vases I bought with at least 4 stems per vase. Buy colored rocks to fill the vases at Gardenridge. Check out Sam’s or Costco for bulk flowers. (limit 100 dollars for bulk flowers and 20 more for colored rocks total cost to fill 15 vases – $10.50 each)
• Invitations – buy handmade paper and ribbon to complete the look ($1.30 each including stamps)
• Cake Table – order I Do letters (I priced it at 20 dollars)
• Candy Buffet:
  • Candy Jars (8) – Prices vary by size – saw some apothecary jars at Walmart for 6.99 to 12.99 for the massive ones. (Limit $40 for jars)
  • Scoops - (The Container Store, you can get 10 clear scoops for 11 bucks)
  • Candy – Bulk Candy website or Sam’s (limit ($50 dollars).
  • Bags ($24 dollars for 150 bags at Oriental Trading Co) Total cost = $125 bucks
• Dress – Alterations needs to be booked by July for bridals taken in August (I hope it doesn’t get too hot)
• Engagement photos - Book for end of April (on our 1 year engagement anniversary :-))
• Get Mother of Bride Dress with mom
• Book honeymoon through Expedia

I like this combo. The orange really pops. I really don’t want to get away from the orange. I think I may end up with this, since both Brian and I were set on this color combo. We both agree not to combine several different colors, so we might just do two colors.

I think this works really well together. What do you think? I like the idea of the rich jade color with a rich purplish color. If we were to add a third color I might add purple instead. I don’t know, I’m so color blind and have no idea. I like colors of all kinds :-)

Eh. I don’t know. The purple by itself with the jade doesn’t go well together. I think I might stick with dark orange and add more white instead of fushia. I got tired of looking for pictures….Maybe a florist would know.

I think it was yesterday, maybe it was the day before, but anyway, I had purchased 13 vases from a bride. They’re about 12 inches tall, cylindrical. I guess this means I’ll be making my own centerpeices. I’m kinda of excited! I don’t like any of the arrangments I’ve seen elsewhere, and the kind I like would probably cost us thousands. I will however, order arrangements for the head tables etc.

Yesterday I was researching bulk flowers. It’s so hard when you don’t know if the site you’re looking at is legitimate or can even provide quality/fresh flowers. I do know I want to go tropical. You know, snap dragons, orchids, lilies. They’re so pretty. It’s also the inspiration for the wedding colors I’ve been wanting to go with. I found some website that sells orchids by the bulk for about 167 per box which includes about 120 stems. I need to check with the local florist and stores to see if I can get a wholesale price with them. Particularly with Central Market since they seem to keep stock of a ton of different exotic flowers. Orchids are expensive! I could also get floral arrangements from Sams.

1. Find a church
2. Book a photographer
3. Book a DJ
4. Finalize bakery decision
5. Start looking for honeymoon spots
6. Buy a car ;-) (maybe)
7. Find a florist

That’s it for now.

It was kinda frustrating and I didn’t want to sit there and ask too many questions since I was on a lunch break. He said he’ll get me a quote for all the arrangements I asked for. Seriously, how the heck are you supposed to give a quote on something that you dont even know what it’s going to look like. Quotes vary by flower types, size, and the types of vases, etc. Maybe it’s just the preliminary quote, but that makes it pretty useless. I wanted to discuss details like should I have ribbons on my bouquet, or what kind of minor details I want on the centerpieces, leaves or berries or fruit.

I guess maybe this is how the process really is.

I think as far as arrangements goes, I’m gonna make it a DIY project. I’d have to get the bouquet from a florist but everything else will be made my moi.

We’ll see what the quote says first….

Anyway, so I’ve been checking out The Knot boards and some of these women are just crazy. 80% of them are ALREADY married yet they still come to the site. It’s nice however to look at profiles and get ideas from these people, especially since it’s a local board and they have reviews for some of the vendors here.

We’re going to our first tasting at Brookhaven on Sunday. It’s not really a tasting of any one item from our menu, but more so to see what quality and kinds of food they make. We’ll probably have to go back at a later date and do a tasting of real wedding food.

I have an appt with Mockingbird Lane Florist next Tuesday with the wedding designer there. I think next to the dress and cake this is the most important piece of the whole concept of the wedding. I also need make an appt with some other photographers, particularly Bella Pictures. I finally emailed the woman back and asked for her availabilities.

Once we get photography settled, we’ll work on makeup and hair people. All the Knotties are raving about Stephanie Dubose but her rates are going up from 300 minimum to 400 next year. Sucks. Her portfolio looks great though. 400 is hair and makeup for 5 people or less. It’s actually alot cheaper than what I’ve seen. I wonder if a salon is cheaper? But anyway, I’d like to in and do the hair and makeup trials for the engagement and bridal sessions once we book a photographer.

We still have tons to do and haven’t really gotten anywhere with them. I think the most important thing is finding a church. Once we have the two set in stone it would be much easier.

I was checking out The Knot website since they have such great tips and all, I ran across these sample images of centerpieces and bouquets. It goes really well with the orange, red, and fushia themes. I don’t think I will be spending a ton of money on centerpieces, other than the ones that is offered at the country club, but I’d like to at least decorate the head table with some flowers. I read somewhere that Central Market is cheaper than most florists….we will see.

Today we were supposed to meet with a photographer from Bella Pictures to view her portfolio and ask any questions. But of course I never check my voicemail and missed her confirmation call. She never showed up. Is it my fault? Oh well. I think I may need to go by Bridesmart to check out their invitations since they claim I get 40% off.

I also need to call Julie and Yi so we can check out some bridesmaid dresses. I don’t like any of the ones I saw at any of the bridal shops. They’re so ugly. We may just go shopping at the mall and find matching dresses, I’m sure it’s cheaper. I know the tradition is for the bridesmaids to pay for their own dresses, but I just find it difficult to tell them that, especially since I asked them to be in my wedding. We’ll definitely have to work something out. My mom and sister told me to pay for the dresses and skip the attendent gifts. I think that’s a good idea. Either way, I just don’t want it to be a complete financial burden on the bridesmaids as well as myself. We can always rent. Um yeah. Maybe not.

Anyway, I do like the idea of getting the dress from the mall versus the bridal stores (they require too much alterations). I saw some at Jessica McClintock that was really cute! We’ll have to go. I just hate shopping when it’s hot out. So starting in early November, we’ll go. I’ll give you girls a call….