First Tux Fitting, Savvi - Mall of Georgia

Sunday, June 29, 2008

We went back to Savvi (at the Mall of Georgia) the next day because I wanted to turn in the VIP card we had gotten from Dillard's and because I had forgotten to take pictures of Al in the tux.

So we went back in, (thankfully Chris was there again) and Al got measured and actually tried on pants, shoes and a jacket.

I took pictures and then had him try on the jacket to the Ralph Lauren Whitney that we had picked out the day before. It looks really good in pictures.

This is Al with the standard black "try-on" jacket and pants in order to determine proper size and fit.

Al's GQ pose.

He's so hot in a tux.

Checking himself out in the mirror.

We like to play dress up.

Al in the tux jacket that we picked out.

It's by Ralph Lauren and it's called "The Whitney".

I was kind of surprised when Al picked it out as it's pinstripes, instead of the traditional plain black tux.

Al's been favoring the traditional side of things, so I was sure that he'd pick out the plain Calvin Klein tux. I was pleasantly surprised when he picked out my favorite.

This is a close up of the sleeve. Unfortunately the flash washed it out, so the color isn't true, but it shows the pinstrips.

The Whitney is different in that it has pinstripes that are spread far apart, a structured lapel with a solid "shiny" upper that contrasts nicely with the rest of the tux.

I totally knew this was the one Al loved when he put it on, went to the mirror and actually admired himself with a raised eyebrow. It was so cute.

So, this was our first try in the tux department and I'm not sure if we'll stick with this decision or not. I think we're going to check out Men's warehouse as well just to compare prices and see what's available.

I think we did pretty good on our first shot in the dark in the world of tuxes.

What do you think?

Free Night at the Hampton Inn

Saturday, June 28, 2008

When we attended the bridal show at Stonehedge, we were fortunate to win a free night's stay at the Hampton Inn at the Mall of Georgia.

There were more vendors then attendees at said bridal show and so basically Al, Lisa and I took home the lionshare of all the prizes.

So this was the foundation of our little stay-cation. I wanted stay overnight somewhere to cement the delusion that I was actually on vacation. Medieval Times turned out to be a 3 hour event, so it was already 10:30 pm by the time we checked into our hotel.

It was kind of a shame to waste our free night's stay and not just chill out and do nothing for the whole day, but alas, I am productive woman (or just insane).

We had a pleasant experience and their free breakfast the next day was pretty decent.

Overall a decent experience with the Hampton Inn.

Medieval Times

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Granted, Medieval Times is not necessarily wedding related, but it was part of our little stay-cation that we took to get away from things and to cram a huge amount of wedding related things into one day.

So, I figured if we were driving up to the Mall of Georgia, we might as well make the best of it, and I had been wanted to go to Medieval Times since it came to Georgia 3 years ago. So I decided that we were gonna do it the right way and we got the Kings royalty package (a total upgrade) and ended up with primo seats, a free picture and frame, a commemorative program/DVD and a ribbon to root for our knight.

We ended up sitting in the front row in the very middle of the arena rooting for the red and yellow knight. Not only were these pretty much the best seats in the house, our knight won the compeition. Good times.

Their costumes were so impressive. I can't imagine how heavy the armor, helmet and additional accessories are.

You can also see the way the arena is lit. Each knight has their own color and their own section that is lit by colored lights. This was how close we were to the action.

For those of you who haven't been, your package includes the show - jousting, horse show, falcon as well as dinner/dessert as follows:
veggie soup, garlic bread, 1/2 baked potato, chicken breast, rib and an apple turnover for dessert.

We also wanted some special drinks and we got the 40 0z frozen margarita in the commemorative margarita glass as two as well mixed cocktails. I had the Maiden's kiss and Al had the executioner.

Highlights of the show included the falconer flying overhead, the parade of the knights and colors, the knight's competition specifically the joust, the impressive weapon fighting (loved the sparks flying off the weapons) and of course the amazing horses.

I was so amazed at the control and discipline these horses had. They were so lovely. And the jumping horses, marching and high stepping horses were awesome to watch.

I managed to catch a few pictures of the jumping horse. He was so beautiful. You can see the height that he gets off of the ground. All four hooves off the ground. Amazing.

They also has the horses on just their back legs.....I could post SO many of these pictures, but instead, here's the link to a gallery with more pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/alicia.benson/MedievalTimes

It was such a great experience and something that I would recommend to anyone.

Tea Party Hat

June 28, 2008

While strolling through the mall of georgia, we happened upon an accessories store that I was originally drawn to because they had GA Tech merchandise.

As I was perusing the store I came across the coolest hat ever :

I found this beautiful purple wide brimmed straw material hat. It totally looked like a Derby hat and I just HAD to try it on. I placed it on my head, turned around and Al was so surprised. He says "wow! you look good in hats". Apparently (as my mom tells me) this is an inherited trait for all the women on my mom's side of the family. Who knew

http://cgi.ebay.com/Belmont-Dubai-Ladies-Hat-PURPLE-and-LAVENDER-Tea-Hats_W0QQitemZ130206695503QQihZ003QQcategoryZ3005QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Alas, I ended up walking out of the store without it, but I have my sights set on it for my bridal shower tea party. It's perfect and really when am I ever going to wear a hat like that at any other point in my life.?

Savvi Formal Wear at Mall of Georgia

Saturday, June 28, 2008

During our wedding packed Saturday, we were referred to the Savvi formal at the mall by the registry consultant at Dillards. We figured what the heck, we're in wedding mode, let's check it out.

We got to the store and were immediately helped (service was great) by Chris. He was super nice and really patient as we told him what we were looking for and our vision for the men of the bridal party. He tooks us through the store showing us options and Al picked out and tried on two different styles of tuxes before settling on the Ralph Lauren Whitney, pin strip black tux.

It was really cute because he had that expression on his face like "this is the one, and I look good!".

Then we got to choose a style of shoes and decided on the black patent leather celebration shoes with the rounded off square toe.

Next choice was the shirt and we went iwth the white wingtip shirt without pleats and the gold and black button covers.

Then we got to choose what we wanted to outfit the groom in. I have this really weird thing agains cummerbunds (is that how you spell that) and thankfully Al does too. He says it reminds him of prom. So we decided on the vest. I also voted for the tie instead of the bowtie for a more modern feel. Al was cool with that as apparently crooked bowties annoy him. :)

We chose a gold textured vest, a gold paisley tie and the gold pocket square. It looks fantastic together!

Next came the groomsmen outfits. Al still hasn't decided on his side of the bridal party (and neither had I), so we just guesstimated the number and decided to have them all in a shade of green to compliment the wedding colors.

We wanted them to have a similar style to Al's outfit, so we went with the olive textured vest, olive paisley tie and olive pocket square.

Time for the dads.....we chose to put them in a shade of purple to distinguish them from the rest of the bridal party, but again, keep with the similar style. Lyle and Steve will be wearing the rum raisin textured vest, rum raisin paisley tie and rum raisin pocket square.

I know Lyle will protest, but I'm so excited to see him in a tux. I told my mom that I knew he would most likely be uncomfortable, but I'm pulling the "I'm the bride" card on this one. Besides, I KNOW he'll look dashing and since he and my mom are walking me down the aisle, he'll have to dress the part. :)

And finally, since we had planned on having Al's sister Shania as a perhaps a Jr. Bridesmaid, we also wanted to include Oscar in the bridal party. He'll wear the same outfit as Al or he may do the olive set like the rest of the groomsmen. We'll have to see how he feels about the options.

So there we go, our first try at tux shopping was a HUGE success and while we will definitely check out some other options, I'm pretty satisfied with Savvi, so as of now, they are our top contender.

Swarovski Store at Mall of Georgia

Saturday, June 28, 2008

OMG - The Swarovski Store was like a candy store for me. I could literally see the sparkle in my eye when I looked in the mirror.

Sheesh, talk about having an out of body experience. My girl-y side took over and for one of the very few times in my life, I truly felt like a princess.

*sigh*

I tried on the most beautiful and elegant crystal and pearl tiara. I think I was probably drooling....seriously. But with a $425.00 price tag, this was/is WAY out of my budget. This is where my practical side kicks in and goes....WHY?!?!?! Dear god WHY would someone spend that much money on a tiara, but, to each their own.

I am now on a mission to find something similar that sparkles just as much and has a similar shape, since that really made my face look longer.

In this picture I'm also wearing one of the necklaces that I selected, which kinda gets hidden by the neckline of my shirt, but still, it was INCREDIBLE!!!!

I call it the drip necklace. It was so beautiful and I think I might also look for something similar in my bridal necklace.

We then moved on to earrings as I was having a dillema of dangle versus studs.....I know, I know, what a dillema. So I tried on a dangle pair and they just were not as beautiful as the other "stud" earrings I had picked out. The design was a crystal "loop" surrounding a pearl.

So let me just say that when you walk into the Swarovski store, they wait on you hand and foot. I had three people scrambling to "dress" me in jewelry. It was freakin fantastic and something I could easily get used to. My main sales guy was Mike and he helped me try everything on, pick things out and even made recommendations. His shining moment however was when he put on the white gloves and took my Swarovski crystalline cut toasting flutes out of the display case.

Oh they make me melt....they are so beautiful. I didn't know it, but Lisa actually had these at her wedding and they were her wedding gift. So beautiful!

Again, with a $400.00 + price tag, they are not going to be mine *sniff*, but I've done yet another research frenzy of finding something similar, and I think I came up with a worthy opponent (I'll post more on later). YAY!

The next round of jewelry was a three row crystal choker ($320.00) with matching crystal bracelet ($240.00) - which unfortunately Al did not get a picture of - that was absolutely stunning and quite perfect. I think Al has a thing for choker's and he was grinning like a schoolboy when he saw me all decked out.

Then one of the salesman came up to me and said "try these on, you'll leave the store with them".

AND I DID!!!!!

Al was so good to me. He loved the earrings and thought they looked beautiful on me, so I got my first "wedding related" gift. I'm definitley considering wearing these. The design is a half hoop of three rows of crystals, and let me tell you that they sparkle like diamonds. I have gotten SO many compliments, usually of the "Ooooh pretty" variety.

So we had quite the productive trip to Swarovski and it was so much fun to feel like a princess.

Who knew?!?!

First Bridal Registry

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Today we went to Dillard's at the Mall of Georgia to pick up our gift that we had won at the Stone Hedge bridal show and to start our first registry. We had not done a previous registry and I was excited to put some beautiful fine china, crystal and flatware on the list.

Our bridal consultant was Florene and although she didn't have the most pleasant of personalities, she was somewhat helpful and gave us advice of the basic registry items that we should have.

We started out with formal china and decided to pick two patterns that we could easily mix and match.

The odd thing is that most everyone has decided to go modern and choose platinum or silver over gold accents, so we were pretty limited in finding something that was gold. Strangely (maybe not really) we were on the same page about wanting super traditional pieces and to both of us that meant gold. I love what gold represents: tradition, royalty, opulence, luxury....all the good stuff.

Our first choice was the ever popular Vera Wang Lace

in Gold. It's such a beautiful pattern, minimal and sophisticated. There is just enough detail to keep the eye interested, but not so much that it looks too busy.

It's so beautiful matched up with the flatware and stemware that we chose and really is a statement. I promised Al that I would use these as our everyday instead of just breaking them out at Christmas or Thanksgiving. I feel that china is meant to be used and appreciated, even if you're eating pizza. Plus this pattern is so popular, that it will be around for quite some time, just in case anything gets mishandled and broken.

This second pattern is called the Vera Wang Gilded Leaf for Wedgewood.

There's this beautiful and detailed gold "leaf" design around the dinner and salad plate. Then the coffee cup and sacuer have a gold rim detailing with leaf/branch motif in gold on one side of the cup (see picture). On the bottom inside the cup is the same pattern only in silver.

The 9 inch accent plate, which is shown in the picture has the leaf/branch motif on the outer rim of the plate in gold and on the base of the plate in silver.

When the two patterns are mixed it's quite a stunning effect and will be so beautiful for entertaining and holiday dinners.

Then we picked out crystal to compliment the fine china.

There were only two patterns available with a gold rim, so that narrowed down our options, which was good in a way.

So we chose the Lennox Firelight pattern with a gold band. It's so beautiful and the pattern totally catches the light and sparkles. I LOVE IT!

And last but not least, to complete the formal table is the flatware. Dillard's carried only one line of flatware that had gold, so of course, that's what we went with. But, to be honest, I probably would have chosen this pattern even if there were other options available. It's an 18/10 stainless with a gold trim that has almost a rope pattern to it. It's very similar to the pattern on my engagement ring.

I honestly never thought I could get this excited about tableware, but it was so much fun picking things out and planning for dinner parties. I didn't know I had it in me.

Finally Florene suggested to us that we pick out our casual china for everyday use.

We thought, ok, we'll check it out, and Dillard's selection left MUCH to be desired. We couldn't find a single pattern that we both liked. Al found one called Elements, by Nora, but I totally hated it.

Here's Al displaying the practicality of said china that I loathe.

After we finished picking out the "starter" pieces to our registry, it was gift time. I swear, it was almost like Christmas.

The first present was actually the prize that we had won at the Stonehedge bridal show. It was beautifully packaged in this textured (snake skin like) white paper with a gorgeous lush white bow. I didn't even want to open it. I decided that I'm saving the ribbon for my rehearsal bouquet.....Anyway, it turned out to be a set of champagne glasses that were of the firelight pattern that we had just picked out (sans the gold band). Our first crystal....oh my gosh I love it!

The second gift was part of what Dillard's usually gives out when you do a registry with them. It's called the I Thee Wed Planner Book and it's actually a really great, really detailed book full of advice and ideas on topics across the board, not just the registry. It even has a dandy furniture arranging guide to use when you move into (or change furniture in your existing) your new house.

In addition, at the Stonehedge bridal show where Dillard's was featured as a vendor, they were giving out pamphlets and guide books to registries (which is how this whole trip happened in teh first place). Inside the pamplets was a letter saying bring this to the specific Mall of Georgia Dillard's and receive an additional gift, so we got ANOTHER freakin gift.

It was a beautiful glass bud vase that had a Silver raised grape design around the bottom of it.

It's gorgeous and such a pretty piece.

As we were leaving, our arms filled with our stash, Florene gave us a VIP card to be used at Savvi formal which was for a free Father of the Bride tux, in addition to the discount on the groomsmen tux and the free groom's tux. BONUS!!!!!

We were treated so fabulously and had such a great time. I'm pretty impressed with the experience I had at Dillard's. The other good thing is that you have a lot of out of town guests, there are a good number of Dillard's across the country.

Whew! So that's how we survived our first Bridal registry.

Coffee-Cakes Bakery...Cake Tasting

Saturday, June 28, 2008

We started off our whirlwind day with a cake tasting at Coffee-Cakes Bakery.

http://coffeecakesbakery.com/

Can I just say "OH MY GOSH"

This cake was freakin amazing!!!!!

It was quite the happenin' spot.

We pulled up and the place was crowded with people picking up cakes and grabbing an early lunch.

We met with Lorne for our consultation. Coffee-Cakes bakery is a husband/wife owned shop.

It's a family business and strangely enough, you can taste it. I mean, no matter who you are, this cake reminds you of Grandma's baking.

So, we went to the "bridal room" where we got to check out pictures and photo books of cakes they have made and are capable of making.

Here's Al pouring through a picture book while protecting his cake booty.

You can see some of the examples of cakes they had in the room to give you an idea of what a finished product would look like.

We were given a slice of cake that had two different kinds of cake and three different fillings. The cake was frosted with a delicious real buttercream that did not leave that greasy after taste. It was smoothe and literally melted in your mouth. The bottom layer was an almond pound cake with an apricot filling. SOOOOOOO good. The apricot was tart and crisp and it totally went with the flavor of the cake.

The top layer was a vanilla cake with a subtle lemon cream filling. I was shocked at how much I loved the lemon cream filling. As a general rule, I pretty much shun anything that has lemon in the description, but this was so darn good!

The middle filling was a raspberry flavored cream. Again phenomenally delicious.

As you can see, the cake was pretty much demolished. YUM!!!!!!


After we tasted the cake, we chatted with Lorne about design. We had kind of already had an idea in our heads about the way we wanted the cake to look. The bottom layer will be a 14"square and will be turned in order to be "diamond shaped". The second layer will be a 10" hexagonal shape with the flat side facing out.

Our monogram will be done (in buttercream icing) on this side. The top layer will be a 7" round.

We are currently working on color ideas. I personally would love to have a purple or green cake, but I think Al's traditional side will take precedence. We'll probably do an ivory cake with designs (and our monogram) in purple or green. I have no idea what our caketopper will be, but I've got a couple ideas in mind. My only insistence is no couple figurines. I HATE those things.

We also talked about a Georgia Tech or Red Sox themed grooms cake, but didn't go into too much detail on that one.

So, after everything is said and done, we are looking at $750.00 (give or take a few) for a Bridal cake with each layer filled to serve 100 people, a silver cake plateau for display, a grooms cake and delivery. Not too bad considering the quality of cake. As of now this is our top contender, but we still have a few more places to check out.

Wedding Therapy

Friday, June 27, 2008



After an unbearably long week at work, I was thrilled to hang out with Scott and Alden for "Mexican night". This is our standard evening out at our favorite Mexican restaurant El Azteca on Roswell Rd. It always involves cheese dip and a pitcher of frozen margaritas. YUM!!!



We love hanging out with them and on this occasion it was like wedding/couple therapy.



I find it odd that there are no books or even outward mentions of the dirty side of wedding planning. You really have to bring that out of people and pursue answers for them to talk about it.



Since I am experiencing my own drama with wedding planning, I am shocked to discover that this is not in fact a unique phenomenon. In hindsight, it truly is amazing how supportive all my girlfriends are and have been in sharing their experiences and listening to my own.



It seems like it's own little niche market and I'm amazed that more "wedding therapists" aren't

advertising at wedding shows....or maybe I'm biased because I'm advocate of therapy in everyday life anyway....regardless, it was an interesting night of revelations. I'm so glad that we get to call them friends.

Spectrum Entertainment, Part Deux

Monday, June 23, 2008


Well, can I just say that I am disappointed at best.


Charles FINALLY got back to me today at about 3:00 pm. Almost a full MONTH! The good side is that he did offer a 20% discount which was very kind of him and I really did appreciate it.

Charles' rate for 5 hours of music is $1195.00 which is not that bad. Pretty comparable to everyone else out there. With his experience, I can understand why he would charge just a little bit extra.

However, when we finally did talk, Charles went into salesman mode and tried to convince me to book Spectrum for video services. He asked if I had seen their demo. I didn't have the heart to be honest. The truth is, I've seen examples of Spectrum's work, even different videographers, and I'm just not impressed. Their style just isn't for me. Anyway, he went through this whole spiel with package discounts and what not and I was just like, ok give me two separate contracts and I'll look over them.

He was SUPER quick in getting those contracts to me, literally 20 minutes later, I had both versions in my hand.

SO FREAKING FRUSTRATING!!!! He kept me waiting for almost a month, then as soon I we start talking booking he's on it in 20 minutes.

I just don't understand.

Final Videographer

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Al and I decided last night that we would go with Moonrize as our videographer.

http://www.moonrizestudios.com/weddingpackages/

I'm so excited to have this decision taken care of.

There were a myriad of variables that pointed us in this direction such as the right price, editing, acceptable style and control over the final product were the ultimate factors.

I spoke to Roy (the owner) today and told him we would be booking him. So, the next step would be to send a $375 deposit to his address and then we get to go from there.

YAY!!!!

Toasting Flutes and Serving Sets

Monday, June 16, 2008

So instead of working today, I spent a huge amount of time browsing ebay/etsy/internet for wedding related items. I was looking for toasting flutes and a cake knife/server set. I found the Lenox crystalline toasting flutes w/swarovski crystals and absolutely fell in love (obviously not with the price), but still fell in love.

So, due to the insanity of the Swarovski flutes, I set out to find something similar and or comparable that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

I consulted Lisa for her opinion and she set off to hunt as well. Lisa's surfing yeilded two amazing options:

http://store.unveiledeventsandgifts.com/tustwicrstfl.html

I LOVE this first set. Looks VERY similar to the swarovski set that I've been coveting but is RIDICULOUSLY expensive.

http://www.americanbridal.com/personalized-toasting-flutes-asv027.html?utm_source=personalized-toasting-flutes-asv027&utm_medium=shopping%2Bengine&utm_campaign=froogle

This second option was the glitter/rhinestone set (which also comes with a matching cake/knife server set). However, after showing this option to Al, it was quickly vetoed by Al with the explanation that he does not "understand bling just for the sake of bling".....eh....as a female, I HIGHLY disagree with him. However, I would rather have something that is gold anyway, so I'm willing to keep looking and use this as a backup plan.

Still not having much luck on the serving sets. Everything is silver, crystal, pear, has hearts or is just plain ugly.

Sheesh.....I have my work cut out for me.

Ringbearers and Flowergirls...

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Ok, I totally had one of my first wedding insanity/carried away moments today.


Lisa found this adorable ringbearer pillow that is "perfect".

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat1_gallery_1&listing_id=12702194


But wait, I had "decided" no kids in the wedding party.....oh no.....

Here's my take.....we have a pretty decent resource for ringbearers and flowergirls.....but, we've decided on a relatively kid-free wedding. Most of our friends with kids are getting baby sitters or if they are out of towners, not traveling with the kids.

It's not that we mind having kids around the wedding, it's just that, our preference is to have a ceremony with no distractions and a reception where adults can have a night off and enjoy themselves without having children running around underfoot.

I must admit that some of this philosophy comes from a recent wedding I shot where it was a majority of kids as guests....yeah, you read that right. It kinda freaked me out. But, as a photographer I enjoyed it because there were numerous opportunities to get that "awwwww...." shot, you know, the one with the flowergirl looking up at the bride in awe, etc.....but, at the reception....

Well, let's just see that I escaped a few near death experiences due to kids running around, sliding on the dance floor and taking me out.

So, alas, no adorable flowergirls or ringbearers for us, but I'm more than happy to step out of the traditional bridal party setup.

Card boxes?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Useful keepsake or just another "wedding necessity"?

I had originally fallen in love with this cardbox that I found on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=1270606

But then I thought.....honestly, does it matter? Especially for that amount of money....

So, I'll put it on the back burner and see what happens. I've seen lots of DIY cardboxes and have thought about taking it on as a project, so, who knows. Maybe I can use my craftiness. I'll keep you posted.

Bridesmaids Gifts....part uno

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

So, I know I can't post exactly what gifts my ladies will receive because they will eventually read these posts, but I feel ok about posting one gift that they are definitely aware of.

I LOVE the idea of bridesmaids totes. However, I didn't want anything too cheesy that would just scream wedding, so anything that specifically said bridesmaids was out. So I moved on to monogramming.

So, I scoured the web, then I scoured Etsy.

Everyone wants at least $20 - $25 per bag.

Then, my ubercool bridesmaid Lisa (in all her etsy guru-ness) found this for me:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat1_gallery_8&listing_id=12667946

Unfortunately, by the time I got around to deciding upon and purchasing said totes, they were sold out. So with this idea in mind I went to plan B which involves....Michael's.

So, now I'm trying to figure out what color, if I should paint it with fabric paint, bedazzle it, do iron-on transfers, or just have it embroidered.

The search continues....

Bridal party debates

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

So last night Al and I briefly talked about the bridal party and what we were going to do.

I'm hoping to kinda get a "firmer" answer tonight.

Since we are getting close to the year mark of the countdown to the wedding, we need to go ahead and get this fundamental issue taken care of.

I know that I want to come up with a cool way to ask my ladies to be a part of my big day.

To be honest, part of it is ripping an idea from a blogger at weddingbee.com, but it's just too cool and it totally fits who I am as well.

Since some of it is tricky, so I won't post details of the conversation and I'll leave the reveal for another post.

I will say though, that I'm looking forward to working on this.

What I'm hoping is that we'll have a small number of party members and then the important friends will serve as ushers, readers, program hander outers, guest book attendants and general supervisors of different things.

The other thing to keep in mind is gifts for all of these people and I've already started scoping out Etsy.com to get some ideas. I'm not into the generic crap that the Knot sells. It's just not my style. Quite honestly, I think there are other gift ideas for the groomsmen that don't involve monogramming flasks or money clips.

We'll have to hash all that out as well.

Fun times....

As of now, Al is pretty determined to have about 4-5 groomsmen and then somehow involve the other important people in different aspects of the wedding.

I'm hoping that I can at least match that number, but to be honest, I thought we'd only have 2 or 3. So much for a smaller bridal party. Oh well, we'll see how this all works out.

Would you be my.....entourage

Tuesday, June 10, 2009


So on my way to my videographer appointment last night, I had a conversation with my friend Lisa about the wedding. Lisa just got married this past April, so she's still pretty much in the wedding brain frame of mind.


We talked about various things, but one thing that really got me thinking was the issue of bridesmaids.

For me it's a tough choice other than my Woman of Honor (titles to be used will get a post of their very own).


Backstory:

My best friend Lindsay will (I hope) be standing next to me as my one and only woman of honor. She's been my best friend for the past nine years and despite the distance (she moved to Iowa for graduate school), we remain on the same page and have not drifted apart. She will be moving back to Georgia in July/August and I'm really looking forward to her being a part of the whole wedding planning process. It's really comforting to know that our friendship has triumphed over the distance thing.

Other than that, I have a few other women in mind, but I'm not sure how large we want the bridal party to be and the process of choosing bridesmaids is a little difficult. I only have a very few actual girlfriends in my life and thus just a few women that I would want to stand beside me. Part of me feels guilty about asking them to commit to a role that will require some financial commitment, but the other part is so excited about sharing parties, showers, and all different aspects of wedding fun together.

So that being said, I'm formulating in my mind who I want to be a part of the bridal party as well as how to ask them. I'll update the status of my side of the bridal party as everyone is asked and accepts.

Orpheus and Aphrodite

Friday, May 6, 2008

Well, after not hearing from Charles for a couple of days, I decided to give him a call. I got through to him, but he said he needed to call me back and asked for 5 minutes.
He never called back.

Update: Today is Monday 6/9/8 and I STILL haven't heard from Charles. I just don't understand.

After being very frustrated over the Spectrum issue, I decided to go through some of my back logs of research on Atlanta DJ's. I hit up the Knot forums for some ideas.

One of the DJ's mentioned was Orpheus and Aphrodite which is a husband and wife team.
Husband does DJ, wife does photography.
I contacted them via e-mail around 2:00 pm.
Around 5:00 pm, I heard back from Kris.
We talked for about 30 minutes about DJ services and pricing.

For 4 hours of DJ music (with multiple locations - meaning cocktail hour on the terrace) the price was $875
For the extra hour that I needed it was $125 per hour pro rated.
So, for a total of $999, I could have my DJ.

As we were getting ready to get off the phone, she said "oh, by the way, did you see that we also have a wedding band". How interesting!
Called Band of Gold, it consists of her husband on bass (band leader), drummer, guitarist and female vocalist.
Here's the kicker. If you book them in 2008, they're price for a 5 piece band, for 4 hours is $1600.00.
Un-freaking-believeable. I got so excited.
And, it just so happens that they're playing for a small wedding show on 6/13, so I can go check them out.

HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?!?!?!?!!

Most bands to book start at $3,500.00. I'm so excited to hear them.
None of the weddings I've been a guest at have had a live band, so that will definitely be a standout.

In addition, when the band takes breaks, the DJ does a set, so there's never any dead silence and always an emcee present.

So, I could have a DJ piping music out for cocktail hour, then the band for dinner and the reception.....or something like that.

SO FREAKING EXCITED!

I can't wait to see them next Friday.
I hope they're really good.

I figure, for what Joel of Lethal Rhythms was charging ($1695), I could have a BAND!

I'll update once I get a chance to hear them play.

PUG

Thursdsay, June 5, 2008

Not completely wedding related, but I accompanied Shari tonight to the Atlanta Pictage User Group meeting held at Java Vino in the Highlands.
The featured speaker was Matt Adcock of Del Sol photography.

http://delsolphotography.com/

He's a bit of a celebrity in the photography world, so it was really cool to meet him in person.
He spoke about using off camera lighting and it was so interesting to learn more about his techniques and business strategy.

It was also a really great network opportunity to meet some other local photographers and just get my face out there.

While Matt was speaking he mentioned how lucky and grateful he is to have the job he does and not be chained to the 9 to 5 rat race.
Of course all that's going through my head is.....yeah, must be nice.

That's my goal and I'm hoping to get there one day, whether it's through Shari's business or completely going off in a totally different direction on my own.

It was just another recent enforcer that I am not cut out to work the normal 9 to 5.

Deposit your soul...

Thursday, June 5, 2008


Today was the final day to get the contract and deposit over to Emory.

I was anxious to get to work today to take care of it.
Al gave me the credit card because Emory required a copy of the front and back of the card.
I prepared everything and added my signature to the contract.
I faxed over the signed contract and all the information for the deposit.

Done.

WHEW!

I feel like this HUGE burden has been lifted from my shoulders.
I let out this huge sigh and realized what I'd just done.

This is kinda it.
The point of no return.
But I'm so happy.
I'M GETTING MARRIED.

And now, I'm going to go home check this off my checklist and move all my excessive venue/site information to the done and do not need stack.

YAY!