outfit post - Bridal edition

Below are details from my bridal outfit. Click on the descriptions for links to that product or website, if the exact product is no longer available. I tried my best to do everything on a budget, even though my dress was a huge splurge! 

Dress: White by Vera Wang at David's Bridal

(dress was altered)

(Veil is from the same collection...similar here)

Organza Fit and Flare Gown with Bias Flange Skirt Style VW351011

Sash: David's Bridal

shoes: Enzo Angiolini Slingbacks! Currently on sale!!!! (photo from Polyvore)

Every bride needs a pair of flats! 

N by Nicole Miller at JCP

Since I twisted my ankle a few weeks before, I wore these most of the time. 

Bracelets: Forever 21 - I purchased two and stacked them

for added bling! It looks better in person! (photo from website)

Earrings: Charming Charlie

Hair Piece: Icing (pictured in black on the website)

The one thing that took me a lot longer to find was the perfect necklace. 

I originally fell in love with Vera Wang's Big Crystal Necklace. It is no longer available, and it was not in my budget. This was the only other necklace that stole my attention from all others. The price wasn't right again. I was so annoyed. I spend months looking for a necklace. Then, this one popped up on ebay! My dad and and I waited until the last second and bid on this beautiful statement necklace by Kate Spade! 

Who doesn't love Ebay (a recent auction)

(corset is also from David's Bridal, Panties from Victoria's Secret)

A bonus picture with my husband!!!! 

Suit: rented from Formally Modern Tuxedo

Tie: Marshalls

Shoes and shirt : gift

Review = The Smitten Bride

Throughout the planning process, I kept my eye out for any great wedding deals. It's how I got my wedit cameras for less then half the price, my photo booth for $420ish. Subscribing to Groupon and The Wedding Channel deals, for example can be a huge help!

It was through wedding channel that I found The Smitten Bride. I contacted them to ask them a few questions. My biggest concern was the day of the wedding. I went through so many different vendors.  I was worried there would be nobody to guide them, and to make sure they did their task and the room change. I didn't want to ask family to do a room change. It would be too much stress on my mom and I to think about what was going where and if it would be done correctly.

I had talked to at least one other wedding coordinator in person at a bridal expo. I told her about my concerns and her response was that the caterers should take care of that. It wasn't her job. Then she suggested (because I had a two hour gap) to hire a trolly to take people around the city. I didn't like her personality or her attitude. She also didn't answer my questions the way I wanted. It felt like she only worked with high end brides.

I could not believe the difference when I talked to the smitten bride. They work with all kinds of brides (including ones on a budget) and immediately said they would help me with whatever I needed the day of! Even moving the rentals themselves to help me with the room change. I was so excited. After meeting up with them, I found that they were the sweetest ladies I've met in the wedding industry. They were so kind. I ended up working mainly with Katie who was just fabulous. I was always a nervous wreck when I  met with them, but left feeling so much better knowing that they would be there to assist.

What did they actually do?

• They, without even knowing it, calmed my mom and I down. When we booked them, my mom said she literally slept better that night. 
• They met with me three times total before the big day. The second was to talk about details. She, after looking at my confused face I'm sure, even said if I needed to we could talk some more later at another meeting 
• Katie responded to my e-mails quickly and gave me helpful suggestions when I needed another opinion. 
• I never felt judged even when I gave them my blank stares because I was stressed! Hey that's helpful right!?
• They wrote up the timeline for the day. I know that sounds easy, but I had a cocktail reception. I've never been to a wedding like that so I didn't know the order of things and when it should take place. They wrote that out. I was so relieved when I got that!
• They confirmed everything with all the vendors before the wedding! So incredibly helpful!
• They held on to all the contracts. That was also great. You never know what you might need the day of!

The day of...

• They set everything up for the ceremony.
• Helped line everybody up when it was time! 
• They did the room change! This was worth every penny in itself! Kitchen Chicago has a balcony and they brought stuff up and down the stairs! (I believe my servers that I hired also helped)
• They made sure everything went smoothly with me and the vendors. 
• Katie was there constantly checking on me. When my husband and I were going around greeting each guests, a lot of them handed me their gift. Katie would come out of nowhere to grab it and put it in safe keeping. 
• She got us drinks and food! That was great!
• They were there until the end
• They cleaned everything up and broke everything down. 
• She organized all my wedding stuff like the decorations and gifts so that it was easier for my mom and dad to take with them. 

They were fantastic. If I had to rate them I would give them a hundred stars! They were great. I literally don't know what I would have done without them there that day. I had so many different vendors. My photographer, DJ, caterer, table rentals, photo booth, servers, and bartenders where all from different companies! So you can imagine how happy I was that they were there to run everything. I would strongly recommend them to any Chicago bride! I only had them for the day of coordination and they were great!

What I can't give up (for a wedding on a budget) and tips for planning

Planning a wedding on a budget is proving to be a huge challenge. The average wedding costs around $25,000! That's a lot of money to spend on one day! That is more money that I have to spend. So here begins my journey of a wedding on a $15,000 budget. I know, that sounded like a lot to me too in the beginning, but that number proves to be a challenge in this city.


There are a few things I cannot give up!

1. It must be in the city of Chicago. I'm not quite sure why that means so much to me, but it does. Maybe it's because of the fact that Joe and I spend so much of our time outside the 'burbs. I go to school and Joe works in some of the greatest parts of the city! Not to mention that we spend a lot of our free time there. Chicago is amazing, and I want to say I do! Right here in the windy city.
2. I do not want to have it in a banquet hall or a hotel.  Nothing irritates more then a windowless, gloomy,  carpet covered, chair covered, room. It is not in my definition of beauty. Am I being too hard? I guess I can thank my artist eye for that. haha
3. I just want to have fun! It is supposed to be the most important day of our lives right? That doesn't mean everything has to be a traditional cookie cutter wedding. Joe and I want to have fun with the people that surround us. We want to laugh and start our lives officially together with a bang! 

I have talked about Kitchen Chicago before. Online, I had bumped into a fellow blogger who just got married for $10,000. She got married in Kitchen Chicago, and I am now determined, to not give up one of my requests. It is so hard to not fall into the whole banquet hall thing. I could easily get the hook-up from two people! It just isn't what Joe and I envision. So seeing another blogger go through exactly what I am going through really helps! What helps even more is seeing it decorated! I went to the place to visit with my parents. I'll post photos soon... It really helps transform the place! To see photos now, go to her blog. She has just updated photos from when she got married!

Kitchen Chicago is a beautiful space, and I think it is the one. 

The next step is finding out where I can rent everything. I have a notebook full of prices from different companies to compare and see which is cheaper. The dilemma Joe and I have is if we want a sit down dinner for 130 people or a cocktail reception for 150 people. At this point the cocktail may be just a bit cheaper and we could have more people come! Our list doesn't even include co-workers or any important extras that our parents would like to invite. At the same time, my parents like the idea of the sit down more. They are old school and that is the more formal route. Joe and I are 50/50 right now. 

As soon as we decide the smaller details and what companies to go with, we will be going to Kitchen Chicago (most likely) to book and save our date (late July of 2012)!  We want to do this by the end of the month. I am so excited.

Tips...

I do have to say, planning a wedding on a budget has caused many headaches. It has been stressful. I'm still stressed now. It will take a lot of work, but I am determined now. I think we can do this! The times I am not so sure though, Joe has been really supportive. That has really helped. The best thing in planning though, is doing your research. It takes a lot of time, but it helps to see what all our options are. I have probably looked at every venue in Chicago (other then banquet halls and hotels). I emailed them and then ruled them out when they had a ridiculous minimum or cost per person. Joe and I made a spreadsheet on excel or we just wrote down all the  prices to all the venues we liked and broke it down to how much each thing cost (like venue, food, alcohol, tables, chairs, and so on). This helped us visually see what everything would cost even if it was just an estimate. Some places where cheap, but then you had to go through their bartenders and purchase their alcohol packages which rose the price a lot. This brings me to some more tips on what to think about.

Some things to look at when you are just beginning your search are...

1. Rental cost / minimum (this applies towards restaurants)
2. Don't forget to add about 31% to your venue if it is an all inclusive one. Sure it may not cost that much, but when you add an extra 31% for tax and gratuity it all adds up. 
3. If it just the space you are renting do you have to go through their caterers? This is why Joe and I turned so many down. Their required list was way more then we could afford! The place wasn't so bad but the cost of the food is the same a place that already includes everything. It got to be a little bit crazy. 
1. A suggestion for this is to get catering from a cheaper place. Joe and I are seriously considering Gino's East! It is more affordable and it is food we really love. My point? Have an open mind for food and think outside the box.
4. Think about if your guests have parking. Joe and I visited some places and a con was the cost for parking or the fact that there wasn't any parking at all in that neighborhood. That was a turn off. I can't afford shuttle busses like they suggested! 
5. Again, DO YOUR RESEARCH! 
6. Don't forget to check to see if they offer discounts of Fridays and Sundays!

Some of these may be really obvious to some, but they were tips I wish somebody told me when I started to e-mail vendors and find out pricing information. 

That's all for now. I do have two/three more venues to post and write about for brides on a budget! That will be coming soon!  

A New Leaf - Wedding Venue #2

When I was searching for lofty type spaces in Chicago, I stumbled upon A New Leaf. The pictures I saw caught my attention, and I knew I had to see what it looked like in person. I'll talk about the pros and cons after the pictures. Again, you can get a better a feel about the place from the pictures. If you want to view their website, you can click here to get more information.

40 of these chairs and 8 tables are available for use. 

These are the stairs that lead to the dance floor.

Stairs again. I thought they looked cool. 

This is where Joe and I would put the dance the floor. It was large enough for sure! 

If you look at the previous picture you can see that there are two steps that go into a random hallway. 

There are a couple of windows, and I thought it made a good photo op. 

Hallway

This is the first floor in the front of the space. I thought it was another perfect photo op!

Dance floor again!

This is the first floor. 

There are stairs that lead to a second floor. (Not the dance floor, that is separate).

Stairs.

This is a video I took of the space. I think I showed the place best with this video. 

Ok so this place was nice. We knew from the moment we walked in, it was too small for a sit down dinner for 130 people. After that we kind of strolled around the place and took pictures. 

Pros:

1. It was nice and those tables/chairs were pretty.
2. Good photo op with the store front. 
3. The place is located in Lincoln Park. Since we want a Chicago city wedding, the location is perfect! 
4. Multiple floors can be beneficial. 
5. You get all floors as well as the courtyard garden. Good for smokers I guess? It wasn't breathtaking or anything, but perhaps it looks better in the summer? 

Cons:

1. The place was too small! After seeing Kitchen Chicago I realized it is possible to have a sit down dinner so A New Leaf turned me off. Even for a cocktail reception, the people would be scattered on any of the three floors!
2. The dance floor I talked about was completely cut off from the rest of the place! What if some people don't want to dance? I won't get to see them or pull them onto the dance floor! This was a big turn off. 
3. The place only has 40 chairs!!! Those chairs are so beautiful, but even for a cocktail reception I think I would like more then 40 chairs. 
4. You have to pick from their list of caterers. It is an extended list which I appreciated, but I don't like their list very much. 
5. No parking lot. This wouldn't be that big of a deal but Joe and I had a hard time finding parking for one car! Image a whole wedding party trying to find parking in the Winter! Yikes! That was a turn off. We are trying to save money so Valet is not something we want to consider and want to avoid if possible. The only parking garages are a few blocks away.

The price is neither a pro or con. It is a con when comparing it to Kitchen Chicago, but it isn't horrible. It is $3500 for a Sunday and $4000 for a Saturday night which is better for your budget then other lofts I've seen online. It really adds up for the bride on a budget when adding food from their list though. That is why we decided that we will not be having our wedding at A New Leaf.

Check out a fantastic photographer for your wedding day here!  

Search for the perfect venue! Kitchen Chicago

So far Joe and I have visited 3 venues.

I'm just going to talk about one today. That one is Kitchen Chicago.

I stumbled upon another bloggers blog. That Chicago blogger is BudgetBridesChicago.

She had found Kitchen Chicago and I knew that I had to check it out. I made an appointment to view the space with my fiance. Pictures can describe what I saw better then I can with words... so below are several pictures I took with my trusty iphone! 

The space has two floors. This is the view from the balcony/2nd floor.

This is where we were thinking of having a dance floor. 

HAHA that's Joe talking to the owner. 

I really liked the windows. I think some color lighting can set the mood.

First floor. (Those tables are available for use)

I loved the high ceilings!

The stairway can make a great platform for a speaker? Maybe?

Good photo op? I think so!

Taken with my iphone 4 fisheye lens.

Joe is eating the city. This window is in the hallway outside of the space where the bathrooms are.

This door looks way cooler in person. 

Good photo op #2? I think so again!

Me down by the elevators.

Fire escape also makes for a great photo. I am thinking the photographer can stand from the p.o.v that I took the picture from and Joe and I can hang out on the stairs.  

Around the corner. Another photo op. I am thinking grunge (real chicago) meets chic.

Joe and I are hoping we can have access to the roof. haha.

So as you can see there are plenty of great photo opportunities. Joe and I also really like the idea that we can put a lot of input into what goes on in the space. We can decorate it however we want. There are no restrictions on the space, and we can use whatever caterers/vendors we want. This is a really big perk. A lot of lofty type spaces have certain restrictions and you have to pick from their cater list which means food will be pricey. 

Ideas for the space? 

Food = Joe and I 100% if we pick Gino's East.

• Cheese sticks (my fav)
• Hot Wings (Joe's fav)
• Pizza - Stuffed crust of coarse (my fav which is also very Chicago)
• Fettucini Alfredo (Joe's fav)

Decor 

• Black and white
• Table seating - Instead of table numbers there will be pictures taken by myself on each table from different places in Chicago. Please be seated at the blue line please. HAHA! 
• In the hallway (where that cool door/window is) we are thinking about having chairs and pictures on the wall to represent the way he purposed to me! haha

There is also another room not pictured. There is another bathroom in that extra space. There is a blue coach. We are thinking that we could put a photo-booth in that spot. It may be a DIY photo-booth with a digital camera on a tripod, props?, and a backdrop. 

Those are all the ideas I have for now. I am uber excited to see all these ideas and plans to fall into place.

I don't know if this is the place Joe and I will pick, but I do like how it inspired Joe and I to get creative...

the best part? The space is only $2000! Yeah, you heard me correctly. 

'Till the next blog, 

Melissa

melissaisaiphotography.com