Oh! Another thing that REALLY helped me draw a picture in my mind was "talking it out" with my florist. I love love love her for that reason. By the end of our first conversation I had actual COLORS (a compeltely foreign concept to me- I'm now following a citrus-y color scheme in a garden theme as the ceremony will be in a garden courtyard). I have talked to a few vendors and if I couldn't get a picture of how they would work at my wedding, I didn't go with them. Mojo is very important to me

Some neat ideas we have arrived at:
-He proposed in the very courtyard where we are getting married. We will have the same white table set up as an "homage".
-We may actually have the Navy hymn played in honor of our serving maid of honor
-Ross is getting me a dixieland-type band to play the cocktail hour, which is perfect because I'm a frontier/pioneer history buff and the hotel is a historical landmark (the teddy bear was actually "invented" there during one of Teddy Roosevelt's many bear-hunting trips there)
-Our favors will be little jars of local honey (and that's ALL!)
-No wedding cake, but strawberry (another local theme) and lemon tarts made by my baker friend. BIG $$$ saver. We're not big on cakes anyway.

Lafayette- those are some great ideas!

It seems the more I plan and engage people, the more at ease I am. I do not care about perfection, I just want to get there already (8 looooong months that seem to be racing by).

I lucked out big time on BM dresses. My other MOH lives in boston and a good friend of hers out there actually works for Priscilla's of Boston (they make gorgeous bridesmaid dresses that I thought were completely out of price range). Well, as luck would have it, the moh is working with her friend to get everything ordered through the flagship store which would include the employee discount. I was just going to go through J. Crew, but this may be too good to pass up!

Hello new Bride to be joining in. A little frazzed today originally we had decided on April 5th but last week i thought hmm thats 3 months away and i havent done anything much less loose the weight. So we moved it to June found a venue, we have a friend thats in a band and they will play for free so we checked on there avaliabilty so far not so good 2 weekends are booked hes checking on the 21st but if that too is booked i'm in a panic here. WE are paying for most of the wedding our selves and dont want to start off in debt so alot of the fairytale things we'd like we are passing on but a band wow the one thing we can afford and I really want we can have except now they are booked so please everyone keep me in ur thoughts they pull thru and have an opening for my last option for June. ok panic story over lol

Hello ladies! Sounds like all is well more or less in wedding land.

I got The Knot: A Guide to Weddings in the Real World and found it actually has been a really good resource on practical stuff, especially vendors.

I finally found someone to make me a vegan cake. Jeeze, you'd think I was asking to get a cake made out of unicorn farts or something the reaction I got out of most of the bakeries I called. The local Whole Foods orders theirs from Chicago Diner and it sounds like we'll be able to work something out. The cakes on their site look great! http://veggiediner.com/cakes.html I might get a couple cheesecakes to supplement the dessert table as well.

Still need to get our act together on calling potential DJs and officiants.

My mom is making the chupah for the ceremony, we've decided on a cream colored under side and the celadon green color for the top and blue ribbons to tie it to the polls. We're going to get some fabric paints and have everyone decorate it during the rehearsal dinner.

Skinnybride- Welcome! Since you're still flexible on the date, you may want to consider a month other than June. It's the most popular month for weddings, followed by September. Things can be more expensive or downright scarce during the "high seasons." Are you talking this year?

Shan- Good luck with the cake! I'm working on a vegan entree and dessert and I may have to go with unicorn farts, especially if you can't find something vegan in Madison! The chupah sounds gorgous!

I got my shoes and sash today. Still waiting on the dress but you know I'll keep you posted! It's getting closer!

OK! I have been MIA for awhile, but life had taken a turn for the worst around Christmas time -- my business slowed to a halt, my fiance has been looking for a job since October and still hasn't found one, and it was just a mess! But I just accepted a job offer on Friday (to start working Wednesday probably, and making pretty decent money), and my mom sent me some money to use for the wedding. SO... we decided to go a little informal (and more affordable) by getting suits instead of tuxes for the groom and groomsmen. My dad has a bunch of suits so he'll just pick one to wear.

I went dress shopping today and picked out my dress and the bridesmaid dresses. I like the dress I picked out, and fortunately I don't need any alterations. But I will say I did like some of the other dresses I tried on better, there was just no way I could afford them. I didn't think I was going to be able to get the one I did either, but it was marked down even more than what was on the tag, so I ended up paying only $250 for it, plus taxes and the garment bag, it came to $278. I budgeted $150 for the dress coz I thought I would just buy one of the Lane Bryant ones, but I decided that was more hassle than what it was worth -- having to send the dresses back and forth and then what if I didn't like the way it looked? I also bought a little jacket to wear with it after the ceremony, and tomorrow I'm going to Lane Bryant to pick up my undergarments.

There is just soooo much to do. I'm working at least something to do with the wedding every day of the week. I'm saving some good money by trading services with a printer and a photographer -- which is a HUGE lifesaver. I also have some more family and friends that are going to help me out so I'm just very thankful right now for everything. I'm not worried too much about spending a little more for my dress, because I did get this job, it kinda takes the pressure off while John is still looking.

Anyway, here are some photos! I'll start with the dress I bought. I did like some of the more expensive dresses better, but ah well. I think the dress I did go with actually looks better in person, it's just hard to get a good photo with all of those mirrors, lighting, plus the camera was looking up at me, etc. I've lost about 34.5lbs so far, which is a good amount but I have been a little naughty over the past month and made no progress. I didn't really gain anything that didn't easily come right off, but I haven't lost anything either. I think this dress shopping has motivated me to lose another 5 to 10lbs before the wedding. I have 2 months, so I think it's a fairly obtainable goal. The dress fits fine as it is, but I think another 5 to 10 lbs gone would make it fit even better.

Here are some pictures of the other dresses I tried on! In my next post I'll throw in a "before" photo so you can see the difference!

And here are some of my "befores" so you can see my progress.

Wow! Way to go! I'm glad to hear things are improving for you! We've had a lot of chaos on my end, too, and it's so wonderful when things finally start to go according to plan. Love the dress!!!

I discovered today that Real Simple has a wedding checklist on their website. I'll have to check it out and see if it's a good recommendation to pass along...

I go to the dentist tomorrow to address my stupidity. Who knew coffee would stain my freshly bleached teeth so badly that I would look like the poster child for preventive dentistry? Yeah... I'm an addict!

Yikes, all the more reason for me to go on living with my less that snow white teeth! I couldn't go without coffee long enough for the whitening to hold!

rakel - Your dress looks great, and you've made some awesome progress! Glad things are looking up for you.

Thanks everybody! Things are starting to come together. I'm leaving for the Orlando mall in an hour or so to pick up my bra for the dress and maybe pick out a sexy lingerie set . I have a coupon that takes $25 off a purchase of $75 or more and the bra for my dress is only $55, so why not? :P

I think I'm going to do the photoshop teeth whitening method .

Well the date is set June 21, Our band is avaliable the venue is avaliable , the cake is planned a firend that makes cakes is doing it for free along with a lot of the food.l Just need to get to finding a dress LOL

Great! You're a June bride! How does it feel?

I found my dress at Ann Taylor. They could get it to me in 5-7 business days so I had time to get a few pounds off before the big day

The teeth whitening thing isn't so bad. I had Zoom whitening done and my teeth were very, very sensitive but I survived- caffeine addiction undisturbed with a little Water Joe! This time, I had them do microabrasion on my front teeth to remove some white marks from a bad fever I had as a child. It didn't work, but the grinding made my teeth more susceptible to stains... unbeknownst to me! All is now well and I have a new whitening kit to try. Ah, the pains of being beautiful!

I'm getting married December 13th, 2008.

Will write more later about my accomplishments, trials, and etc. but I'm at work! I just wanted to peek in and join the bunch

I just got engaged on NYE, and am getting married Feb 14, 2009, so I'm just starting to delve into the chaos that is wedding planning. I realized I really want to kick my weight loss into high gear, because I don't want to regret my wedding pictures for the rest of my life like I do my high school graduation pictures.

Alrighty, so I'm back

I'm 30 lbs lighter than I was in November, which is when we got engaged. I'm hoping for another 60-70lbs in total. I'm taking it slowly but seriously. As long as I'm at least 40lbs lighter by december I will be happy. That is REALLY attainable.

I have our bouquets made, I made them by hand out of silk flowers. Everyone expressed interest in keeping their bouquets, and I wanted to make them. I have them air sealed in a dark closet so they retain their beauty until the big day!

My dress is picked out, and I have an idea for my bridesmaids, but I'm letting them pick out their own (all will be the same, but I want them all to feel comfortable) I have bridesmaids ranging from 250+ lbs and 100lbs.. so I want them all to decide on one dress that they all feel good about themselves in. I've chosen the color and length, and they can do the rest

We are going next month to try on and buy our dresses. My is being paid for by my grandparents.

Location is secure. My cousin owns a 2 story log cabin with a private beach on Lake Weir.. it's beautiful! It's set up on a really big hill overlooking the lake. Huge fireplace downstairs, smaller fireplace in the upstairs suite (upstairs is only the master suite and a bathroom), private balcony on the upstairs suite, huge back patio overlooking the cascading staircase that leads to the beach. Half way down the stairs there is a built in gazebo with fans, TVs, grill, fridge, table, chairs... and the whole place is wired for surround sound (even down at the beach) so music is easy.

He is a lawyer, so he's loaded and this is his "vacation house" and we snagged it for the wedding, reception, after party, and our whole week honeymoon all for free!!

I already have my engagement ring. And he's picked out his. I need to get the bands.. probably closer to the wedding, I don't want to lose them!

I have a local part time photog who works days with my grandfather painting houses, and he said he'd give me a really good deal.

My cake is picked out, and being paid for by my grandparents.

.....

I sound like a spoiled brat! In reality we were paying for everything, but they stepped in for my birthday and gave me gift certificates for my dress and cake. And my cousin is just really loaded and really generous

I don't think I have enough posts to post pictures but I will once I can!