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I Said "YES!" (To the Dress)

I am sitting here on Cloud 9 as I type up this blog post because today I SAID "YES" TO THE DRESS and I have officially found my gown!!!  Oh the glory!!!  I must admit that for me it was nothing like you see in the movies or on tv.  No tears of joy, no crying mother, no dramatic gasps from my MOH as I walked out of the fitting room.  I don't think I expected any of that to occur but it's funny how different things are in reality compared to what you envisioned in your head.

Today I attended a Maggie Sottero trunk show at Bijou Bridal.  I have been eyeing this wedding designer ever since I started browsing online for wedding dresses.  I was excited when I learned that Bijou was hosting a trunk show today.  So I made an appointment to attend and I'm so glad that I did because I found my dress!

Bijou Bridal store in Paramus, NJ

I loved the elegance of Bijou Bridal.  I have gone dress shopping a few other times before but this is the first place that really felt like a bridal salon.  It was a really big store, with gorgeous displays, soft colors and a really elegant feel.  I believe this is their flagship location but they have a few other locations here in the States.  I'm not sure if those are equally as large.  Bijou also carries many different designers aside from Maggie Sottero including Casablanca Bridals (another great brand I like), Watters Bridal and Enzoani just to name a few others.

When I arrived at Bijou I already had an idea of what I was looking for.  I've spent my previous wedding dress hunts trying on different kinds of dresses and deciding what I liked most. I tried different types of fabric (Satin, Organza, Taffeta, Lace, etc) as well as different silhouettes (A-line, Ballgown, Fit n Flare).  similar dress so you can get an idea of what I chose.  This is NOT the dress that I got (that's a secret til 9/14/14!).

Different dress silhouettes.  Photo from Pinterest.

 As I mentioned in a previous blog post I really like the fit and flare/trumpet silhouette.  So when my appointment began I got right down to business looking for exactly what I wanted.  I ended up trying on only 3 dresses in the whole store. This was not because they didn't have beautiful dresses but because I wasn't interested in trying on any dress that I didn't think could be "the one".  I only wanted to try on dresses that had exactly what I was looking for.  I ended up choosing a dress that I felt the best in.  From head to toe I loved everything about the dress.  It felt so fabulous being in it.  Below I have posted a

Lauren dress by Maggie Sottero

I can't believe I chose my dress!  Things are starting to fall into place.  I was so grateful to have my mother and my MOH there with me while I tried on dresses and especially since I found it with them.  I'm also glad that the hunt is over with and I can keep focusing on the next plans to make without the added pressure of finding a dress.  I am really looking forward to booking our wedding officiant next as we haven't done that yet.  Hopefully that will be done by the end of this month and then I think I'll take a breather/break from wedding planning for the holidays.  I hope you enjoyed this post!  Til next time...

-Michelle G

P.S. Only 337 more days to go!

My Bridesmaids

I started out not even wanting a bridal party because Pete and I initially thought we were having a very small wedding. I thought I would just have my sister as maid of honor. But then we decided to have a bigger wedding and thought it would be nice to have a bridal party. So we decided on just 4 bridesmaids and 4 groomsmen. But that wasn't enough. We felt like we were leaving people out of such an important day. So we decided on 6 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen.  I'm so glad that we are able to have such a great group of people who will be part of our wedding.  This has been one of my favorite parts of wedding planning so far.

My Fabulous Bridesmaids

I tend to keep my inner circle very small.  So when I had to choose bridesmaids it was pretty easy for me to know who I wanted.  I wanted people who love and support me and my relationship with Pete.  I wanted people who knew me for many years and whose relationship with me has stood the test of time.  I wanted people who I knew I would still be close with years after my wedding day.    It is this handful of people who have remained in my life throughout it all and who I felt should stand up there with me on what is to be the most important day of my life so far.  So here they are... my fabulous bridesmaids!!! :)

This is me and Jessica, my sister and Maid of Honor (MOH).  I chose my sister because she's the closest to me and I couldn't imagine anyone else standing up there as MOH.  It is a big honor and my sister is deserving of it.  I know she will do a great job!  

Carmen and me at the Britney Spears concert!

Here's a picture with my cousin, Carmen.  I also asked her to be part of my bridal party.  We have many childhood memories and she is one of my closest cousins! We don't always get to see each other often but it's always a good time when we do.  

Jessica, me (blonde) and Laura during !  

 


I also asked my other cousin, Laura to be a bridesmaid too.  I am very lucky that I get to see her a few times a year especially during the holidays!  I have watched her grow up into such a lovely young woman.  She's always been there and I'm happy she will be there with me on my wedding day!

Kristina & I at her rehearsal dinner!

Kristina and I have been best friends since we were in Kindergarten.  Even though she moved away and we grew up apart we always stayed in touch and visited when we could.  She got married last year and I was part of her day.  When I got engaged, I knew she had to be part of mine.  Our friendship has lasted over 20 years and I feel confident it will last at least another 20!  I'm so glad she will be a bridesmaid!

Carissa and I

I have a lot of really fun memories with Carissa.  We have been friends since 5th grade and even got to go to college together!  She is someone who I know I can always have a good time with.  We have been friends for a very long time and I'm glad we have so many fun memories to laugh about together.

   

Keisha and I have been good friends since high school days.  She's awesome and has always been a good friend to me.  I'm happy we have stayed friends after high school and that she will be part of my wedding day.

How I popped the question!

I posted a blog post previously about the Trash the Dress trend but there is another trend I am finding and it relates to your bridesmaids. More specifically, it relates to how you ask them to be part of your wedding day.  If you browse through Pinterest, Etsy, Zazzle or other sites like that you might find an extensive list of "Bridesmaid invites" that come in the form of adorable note cards, jewelry, keepsake trinkets and other cute crafty ideas that all ask the same question.... "will you be my bridesmaid?"  The point of it is to ask your bridesmaid in a more sentimental and thoughtful way rather then an email, call or text.

For example, one of my bridesmaids got married last year and wanted me to be in her bridal party. We were childhood best friends and she lives out of state.  I received a package from her and when I opened the box it was literally a bottle full of sand and seashells with a "message in a bottle." When I opened the bottle and retrieved the small piece of paper it was a one liner inviting me to be a bridesmaid. Talk about cute!!! I had never gotten something like that or been asked in such a special way. I knew that I wanted to do something similar when my time came.

This is what my friend Kristina did for her bridesmaids! Message in a bottle!  How cute is that!? 

Front of note cards I sent to my bridal party! 

When it was time to ask my bridesmaids I wanted to make it simple, sweet and to the point.  So I decided to find a pretty note card that I could customize with ask each girl's name.  I ended up ordering my note cards on Zazzle.com and I think they came out pretty cute.  They are designed like an invitation and it has the wedding date along with my question.  I haven't shared my wedding date with many people yet aside from immediate family.  I thought this was a cute way of revealing the wedding date as well.  Inside I wrote a nice message asking if they would be my bridesmaid.  Short, simple, cute and to the point.  Exactly what I was going for :) 

Bridesmaid Inspiration

I know it is still super early for my bridesmaids to get their dress but that doesn't mean I haven't already been thinking of all the possibilities!  I am planning to wait on choosing their dresses because I want to get my wedding dress first.  But I've added a few photos from my personal wedding Pinterest board with some of my inspiration.  In the beginning of my Pinterest pinning I felt like I was just pinning a mish mash of random wedding inspiration that had no theme.  However, as I go back now and review my boards I have begun to see the patterns, the vision and themes.  I can't even begin to rave about how useful Pinterest has been for me.  

Hope you enjoyed this post!  I have SO MUCH MORE in the works!  I am going to a trunk show this weekend to keep looking for my wedding dress.  Hopefully I will report back with some exciting news!  Til next time

-Michelle G

P.S. Only 342 more days to go!

Fort Tryon Park

My previous post cast a spotlight on the vendor chosen for my wedding photos and video. Today's post is all about Fort Tryon, the park we chose to have our engagement photo session. First of all, I never ever thought I would be doing something like this! It's one thing to take a nice photo but quite another to be front and center in a photoshoot! I am so glad Pete will be there with me so we can have fun with it. 

When we decided to do the photo session we realized we had to come up with a great location. Since we both really love nature and picnics we felt a lovely park would fit our personalities best. We debated between a couple of parks but it was our vendor, George Street, that suggested Fort Tryon Park.  Fort Tryon Park overlooks the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge. I had never been inside that park although I have passed it by many times before. We looked up some beautiful engagement photos online done at that park and were blown away. It was the perfect choice.  Since we both had never actually been in the park we decided to check it out. The park is so beautiful with amazing views of the river and bridge as well as gorgeous architecture and gardens. I am so glad we took the time really scout out the park for photo ops.  We ended up having our own mini photo session.  Below I posted some pictures from it.  Enjoy!

Me in the top right corner

Beautiful architecture and Heather Gardens 

George Washington Bridge

Pete's turn

Pete again

Vendor Spotlight: George Street Photo & Video

                                           

Our wedding is almost 1 year away and I am starting to get really anxious to start all the wedding preparations. Up until now we have only set our date and venue. It felt silly to start planning everything so soon with well over a year before the wedding. But now that the 1 year mark is coming close I am finally feeling ready to really dig in and get the ball rolling. Time for the fun to begin! 

Picture taken from George Street online portfolio

Our wedding will be September 2014. September and October are 2 of the most popular wedding months so I knew we had to start the vendor search with photographers and videographers because they book up way in advance. I spent a nice portion of my summer nights researching all the preferred photo and video people my venue suggested. I also spent time stalking my married facebook friends to see what photographer/videographer they used for their weddings. 

Picture taken from George Street online portfolio

I had an idea of what I wanted my pictures and video to look like. I have really fallen in love with the photojournalistic approach and romantic poses. I wanted to make sure I chose a team that would give us exactly what we wanted. We will look back on these photos and videos for many years and so it was super important for us to make sure we get that. 

Picture taken from George Street online portfolio

My mother was the one who actually found the website to George Street Photo & Video and sent me a link.  It wasn't one of the suggested companies or one that I had found off a friend. George Street is a great company that works with couples all over the US.  They have many offices and photographers and really offer a great service.  

Picture taken from George Street online portfolio

I was initially drawn to the beauty and quality of the work they did. I loved the angles, the clarity, the vision of the photographers. I watched some of the videos and was blown away by their work as well. They had what I was looking for. 

Picture taken from George Street online portfolio

Now George Street was not the first company I had fallen in love with. There were a nice handful of companies that I had listed as possibilities but their prices were astronomical and out of our price budget set for photo/video. So I was half expecting the same for this company but was pleasantly surprised to find that the prices were not just reasonable but totally in our budget! So I sent them an online inquiry to get more information. After speaking with a rep we were assigned a wedding coordinator to meet with and go over the packages and choose a photographer. We were given an online style assessment (which I took alone without Peter lol) prior to meeting so they can match us up to photographers who match our style preference. I thought this was a fabulous idea since I had no clue what my style was. Our coordinator, Natalie, showed us a few portfolios based off our results. We fell in love with the work of the second photographer we saw.  (Erik G. portfolio <---this is the photographer we chose! I love his work!)

Then we looked at the videos and agreed on adding video to our package as well. I love how they edit the videos to make it look like a movie or tv show lol. 

Picture taken from George Street online portfolio

The package we chose included a free 90 minute photo session that we are planning to use for engagement pictures. I wasn't planning on doing engagement pictures but since it's included we figured why not? So that gives us a new project: prepping this photo session. I will save that for another blog post though.

Sorry if this got a little long and ranty but there is just so much to mention!! Hope you enjoyed! And look out for my upcoming posts! 

xo,

Michelle G

PS: if you aren't already, follow me on twitter and instagram!! @itsmichelle_g

Bridal Trend: Trash the Dress (TTD) - what are your thoughts?

I am nowhere close to finding my wedding dress. In fact, I am not really even planning on starting to look for it until sometime this fall but I have been reading up on the Trash the Dress (TTD) trend and had to write a post!

So just in case you are reading this and have no clue what I am talking about let me just briefly let you know about this growing trend. From what I have gathered online, it was started by a photographer in Las Vegas over 10 years ago but has only recently gotten popular in the last 5 yrs. Basically at another time after your wedding you stage another photoshoot where the bride wears her wedding dress again and purposely ruins it during the shoot. Some brides will jump into the pool or frolick around a beach. Others run around in mud and dirt, or shred it up. I have seen brides who threw paint on their dress and even a very controversial shoot where the bride burned her dress (while still wearing it!).

FYI I believe this is a photoshopped TTD which might be a good alternative

From what I understand, the point of TTD is supposed to be a fun, different take on traditional wedding photos. It allows the bride to have fun with her dress, have different kinds of poses and change things up. One site I read said that it symbolizes your devotion to your husband since you can't wear the dress again. And as one former bride I know who has done a TTD shoot said "Since you only get married once its not like you will ever wear it again. So why not?". 

So what do you think of this trend? Would you do it? I certainly can understand the appeal and reasoning behind the TTD trend. And it definitely does look very fun but this is a trend that I personally will be skipping and this is why: 

1. I'm too sentimental: I still have the dress I wore in my Quinceanera (Sweet 15). My mom still has my baptism and communion dress. I come from a family who holds onto this type of stuff. For me, this is a very special dress that I want to keep perfect and show my children someday. It is sacred and important because of the commitment I made wearing it.  To spend so much money on a beautiful dress only to purposely ruin it seems to be a waste of money and disrespectful to the sanctity of the dress (to me at least).

2. Unforeseen dangers: Maybe I am being a little pessimistic but I have read about the bride who drowned wearing her dress in the river or the one who burned her dress while wearing it. The possibility that my safety can potentially be compromised for a photo is a huge red flag!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this post.  The next few posts will be coming soon as we near our 12 month countdown to the wedding.  I'm so excited and glad to know that this is just the beginning.

xo,

Michelle G

Blog Spotlight: CRAZYCOZYCHIC

*Blog Spotlight* 

I am always looking for fun and interesting new blogs to read up on. I recently got into contact with a really sweet fellow blogger, Karen from Ireland. She writes about product reviews, tags, hair and more! Please take a moment to check out her blog and show some love!

http://crazycozychic.weebly.com <---link to her blog!