The highs and the lows of Bridal Expos.... (My rant of the day)

If bridal expos sound exhausting, it's because they are. In theory, it's a great concept: put all the different vendors in one large room so brides and grooms can make a one-stop shop. No cold-calling—saving your precious cell phone minutes, and no driving around—saving our precious ozone. 


But after a very long day at a bridal expo in Oakbrook earlier this year, my fiancé and I felt like we wasted our entire Sunday. As recommended we registered for tickets early to avoid a sell-out, and we arrived early to avoid the crowd. I honestly feel like they give away way too many free tickets, because when we arrived the place was packed, and the event space was poorly laid out. Rather than a large open space like at most conventions, the event was organized much like a maze. So rather than free roaming, we were forced to follow a line throughout the event. It was so packed that you couldn't even spend time to talk to vendors, just pick up brochures.


Oh and they have you leave self-addressed labels at each booth to increase your chances of winning a prize, but i have not won anything—unless you consider countless numbers of redundant emails and postcards about photography and hot pink bachelorette parties to be a prize worth winning. 


To be honest, everything they advertise at bridal expos fit into the neat "wedding box." So if you want a wedding that is truly unique, you should definitely visit a bridal expo—that way you can realize what you don't want.

And now we can officially get married!

For the vast majority of the vendors we have already selected, Brandon and I always have trusted word-of-mouth referrals. So when it came to choosing a minister, we thought it would be easy—meet with some people our friends and family referred and call it a day! Yah...not so much.

Like most couples, we wanted someone who would marry us under the presence of God minus the mass. But we also wanted it to be personable and funny. However, when we met with several wedding officiants nothing felt personable or special. We felt like we were just another couple they were marrying in the rush of wedding season.

Discouraged but still hopeful, Brandon and I drove out to LaGrange Bible Church for another referral (his co-worker had stood up in a wedding and said even after a year she still remembers the things the minister had said.) Without even realizing it, we had a two-hour conversation with Reverend Bacon (the church's senior pastor), but within the first ten minutes we knew we had found our minister.

He didn't pressure us into signing a contract, and he doesn't officiate weddings for extra cash. Rev. Bacon is even willing to perform at our ceremony off-site in the city though we are not members of his church. In our conversation with him, he sincerely conveyed the love and passion that he has for his career as well as his strong beliefs in love and marriage. After meeting with him we cannot imagine anyone else marrying us, and are truly excited to have him be a part of our big day!

The Perfect Shoe...

So I know I haven't posted in awhile but let me tell you...things have been very busy. And while Brandon and I have done quite a bit of planning and made a few important purchases (YES I got my dress—more on that later), I have decided to make my first post back about THE shoe.

While I am entirely into the realm of "purchasing," shoe buying is my forté. Something seems so natural about finding the right pair of shoes. And to be quite honest one of the best feelings in the world is slowly lifting the top off a shoe box, and carefully peeling away at the tissue to uncover the heeled treasure beneath. 

Though the dress is probably the most important purchase—and the most difficult, I knew that when it came to finding my shoes they would find me. While visiting the Zappos.com (the best online retailer)  to purchase a pair of Carolina Blue Chucks I searched the term "bridal" and found pages of white satin shoes. I sifted through Kate Spades, Cole Haans and others but my heart stopped when I came across an amazing pair of peep-toe, slingback (my favorite style) Stuart Weitzmans. AND, they were on sale!

I ordered them yesterday, and they are already in my possession. They fit perfectly! 

Now the hard part: what color should I dye them? 

(More on that later..heehee)

A few memory cards later...

Today on our 8th anniversary, Brandon and I decided to celebrate it with an engagement shoot! The very talented Nick Gerber from Orange 2 Photo met us at Architectural Artifacts, and despite the clouds we were able to catch some sun and a bunch a great pictures! 


From 2 to 6, Nick took us to some great spots and I can't wait to post them later this week!

Less than a year away...

Nine months from today, Brandon and I will be exchanging our vows in the Ivy Room's courtyard, in front of about 150 of our closest families and friends—hidden from the hustle and bustle of downtown Chicago. While we are still in search of the perfect minister, I already know our ceremony will be just the beginning of an amazing marriage.

I can't wait to step around the corner of the brick path and begin my walk towards the same boy who used to push my books off my desk in the 6th grade. After our ceremony, we'll all munch on great food and sip on some cocktails while we mingle with all of the people we care about. Then we'll head inside for dinner, dancing and of course more cocktails! 

Time has flown by since we booked our date in May! And while we are already thinking about our wedding day nine months away, there's still so much left to do until then (wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, cake tastings, invitations, flowers, tuxes, etc.), so stay tuned...

A little bit of retro style....

After a few months of prodding, Brandon finally gave in—we are thrilled to add 312Photobooth to our list of vendors! Ever since I found out it was possible to rent photobooths, I knew that I wanted one the minute we got engaged. 

What's great about this company is that they designed their digital-retro booth themselves. So while it's not the old-school chemical booth (which they also have available for rent), it looks just like one with all the benefits of digital. 

Every strip taken is printed twice so guests can add a copy to a provided scrapbook. Then we get a DVD of all the pictures taken so we can click through and laugh at everyone's drunken pictures—even the ones people were too ashamed to add to our scrapbook! They even provide an FTP site where people can download their strips at no additional charge.

And since there are no walls, my goal on the night of our wedding is to get the whole wedding party in one photo—all 19 of us!

My new favorite Web site!

My co-worker and fellow bride-to-be, Chi-an turned me on to this amazing site! So if you're tired of the usual wedding frill and want unique, non-traditional accessories and accents in your wedding then you definitely need to check out Etsy.  This site is an online community that connects custom artists and craftsmen from over 150 countries to buyers like you and me. All of the items found on the site are handmade, and absolutely beautiful. They have an entire section dedicated to weddings where you can find everything from veils to guestbooks to custom paintings of your wedding gown.

A few of my faves:

This is an original, silk hairpiece created by Etsy artist
Virginia Geiger Jewel . It has a Swarovski pearl and crystal center, with a touch of soft feathers adding the perfect finish to a vintage bridal ensemble.

Paloma's Nest handcrafts unique, ceramic mementoes, including the Ring Bearer Bowl™ (seen right) which can be used later as an ornament or wall decoration—try hanging a dinky silk pillow on your Christmas tree...

 

And for the nerdiest of groomsmen, how about a pair of Lego cufflinks by artist qacreate. They come in a bunch of different colors that would look great when paired with Chuck Taylors of the same hue!

Finally getting married....

They say every girl dreams about her wedding day, but I never really did until I met Brandon. And after 16 years of knowing each other—with four years of constant teasing/minor bullying and a little over 8 years of courtship—we are finally tying the knot next June!

As crazy as it sounds (if you're planning a wedding you will know what I am talking about), not a day goes by without me spending a few hours searching for wedding ideas. Here, I plan to document our wedding ideas, plans, thoughts, etc. 

Hopefully, you can get a few ideas yourself or leave me some of your own!