And the Bride Wore Pink...

Ok ladies. I've been holding out. As soon as I got that other dress in the mail (the one that didn't work out) I went right back online to search.

And I found simplydresses.com

You can shop by dress color and I looked at the white section first, obviously. But then I looked under pink, just for fun, and I found the dress pictured above. I fell in love. My mom fell in love. My sister fell in love. My FI fell in love.

WHAT?!

Yes, I let him see the dress online. Big deal, lol. He won't ever get to see me try it on, though.

I ordered it, and got it in the mail less than a week later. The best thing about it... IT LOOKS JUST LIKE THE PICTURE and fits PERFECTLY. Thank God!!!! And I honestly love it. I don't think I even want a second reception dress because I love this one so much.

This dress is actually more in line with how I've always envisioned myself on my wedding day. I saw myself strapless, and nothing too poofy. The dress has material that lingers in the back, almost like it has a train. It definitely feels wedding-y, and the material is very soft.

There's a lot I like about this dress. It was under budget ($300), and its not like its a dress I'll see at a million other weddings. In the end, you just have to "do you." Some may think its sooo weird and a big deal that it's not white. I could care less. I always wanted to wear a beautiful pink dress, but never found one for both of my proms. (Where was this site when I was in high school?!). I'm definitely glad I said "yes" to the dress!

In Lieu of Table Numbers...

These little beauties were purchased at the $1 section at Michael's. They are notecards, and I totally bought them on a whim.

I LOVE the idea of table numbers, but considering our informal but formal wedding, they just didn't make sense for us. I don't feel like assigning grown ass people seats.

When I saw these notecards, I thought they would be cute to adorn the tables with, as both my fiance's first name and mine starts with "N." $1 for a pack of 8 cards, so there's more than enough to go on every table.

Could This Be the Dress?

I won it on Ebay. Now I just have to see if the seller comes through on my sizing and I hope this experience goes well. I actually just won it on ebay, it comes out to under $200 including shipping. BUT. I've never bought clothes on Ebay. In fact, I thought buying a wedding dress on ebay was a great idea, but not for me.

That all changed once I went dress shopping at David's Bridal. A bridesmaid and I went yesterday, and after about 9 dresses, only 2 were okay, and of the 2 one I kinda liked was like this dress, but $400. So, I found this on ebay and thought, why not? I haven't paid on it yet. I'm waiting to hear back from the seller. Needless to say, I'm nervous.

Venue

(A picture of us posing as if we're exhcanging vows to get a feel for the place)

So, my fiance's uncle is getting married the end of this May. I thought that had little to do with us until my FMIL said we HAVE to check out their venue to consider for our own wedding next year. She said it was a place she fell in love with. I was skeptical because I was not up to the idea for paying for a venue (we had another option-his grandfather is the Imam for a masjid, which is a place of worship for muslims).

However, my FI was very excited. He said if it was a good deal, why not check it out? Besides, he wanted to be able to drink champagne and play the music we liked. I agreed to go visit the place. That was last Friday.

This place allows for indoor/outdoor ceremonies. We first toured the inside. There was a dance floor/reception room with a mini bar separate in its own area. The space was adequate. They claim it can fit up to 200 people, though I wouldn't want to push it past a hundered. I wasn't too impressed until I saw the dressing rooms. The bride's room is so cutesy with a large vanity table and lacey chairs and it makes you feel warm and gooey inside. (Sorry I didn't take pics, I was too busy! You'll see it later). The groom's room was cool, a little smaller, but guys don't need a lot of room to change or put on their makeup.

Then, we toured the outisde of the area which is very popular for weddings. The gazebo was sooo cute! I could definitely see us doing a modest wedding here. Before I knew it, my FI put down the deposit and we had the following in tact:

• 12 hours to do the ceremony outside/reception inside
• 11 tables, tablecloths, chair covers and what I'd like to call "starter" centerpieces (mirrors with two votive candles)
• access to the mixer to use with an Ipod
• All of the chairs needed for 75-100 guests (inside and outside)
• A dance floor

Aaaannd on top of that, because someone else in the family was already getting married there the owner gave us a discount. We got 12 hours on a Saturday in June for a weekday price, saving us around $500. We have until next summer to pay the full $2000 for everything and I believe it was well worth it. What a deal, huh?

I like to keep suspense so I'll do a big reveal of the venue and everything later on.