What I've said yes to!

My goal was to get the major parts of the wedding booked before school starts. I know that once school starts, wedding planning will be harder to do. So here is what I've said yes to.

1. Kitchen Chicago! I'm still very happy with my choice. If you google "Kitchen Chicago Weddings" it now comes up in a google image search. That made me so excited to see two/three other weddings there. It made me go crazy with ideas on how to decorate the space. 

(screenshot of a google image search)

1. I said yes to the dress! After going to a total of three bridal shops, I had to go back to the first one and try it on again. It felt very Melissa. That dress described me perfectly. I must say that I went to another bridal shop which I will do a review on, and it came close. It was so close that, like I said, I had to go back to the first place to try it on to compare while everything was fresh in my mind. A week later I purchased my dress. I'm so silly. I have no idea why it takes me so long to make up my mind. I rang the good luck bell that every bride rings when they've found their dress at David's Bridal. It was a good feeling. I said yes to the dress! 

1. Photography is very important to me. After a lot of drama with the photographers of my dreams, we worked everything out and I signed the contract. Yes, you heard me drama. We had a bump in the road. I have to suggest that when e-mails start getting lengthy it is best to insist that you call them. I had asked to, but she kept e-mailing and it came to a point where she misunderstand me and things got a little bit crazy. I still don't know went wrong exactly. Anyway, we "hugged it out" as my brother would put it. I called the husband (in the husband and wife team) and went over the package. I e-mailed her. She seemed very friendly towards the end, and we booked them. It will be a huge relief when I get the hard copy of the contract. They are amazing though. I love their work. I am excited to work with them. I get an engagement session as well, which I am stoked about. 

1. DJ! We just met up with a DJ on Friday. I am about to e-mail him to see when we can sign the contract. I love the price and the fact that he is going to give us a discount if we pay in full! He looked like a DJ (haha) and has been doing it for 18 years. With the company he has, it's been 5 years. He is all about customer service and making sure the wedding runs smoothly. If the kitchen is dragging and the timeline seems off, he is more then willing to talk to the kitchen. There is no extra charge for us if we need ceremony help with sound (since the reception and ceremony are at the same place). I'm so excited. There is always a back-up DJ on call and equipment. They have insurance and the price just seems right. The DJ I met with the be the DJ on the day of the wedding and he is hispanic! It is important to me that he is bilingual with his mom and some of our guests that are spanish speaking only. I need somebody who can play spanish music without me holding their hand on which songs to play. I'm going to e-mail him right now I'm so excited! The price is way under $1000 which is hard to find in the wedding world. If the reception is 4 hours or 6, there is no extra charge! If you are interested the website is www.windycitymix.com.

This was too cute to pass up.

I'm so excited that I've gotten so much done. Despite the fact that I hate the fact that I start school next week, I feel ready-ish. 

Shopping for the dress! A David's Bridal review.

Everybody knows that one of the most important parts of the whole wedding process is shopping for the dress. Not just any dress, but the dress that will wow your groom. The dress that displays who you are. The dress you save to have your kids look at. The wedding dress.

It's so important to me to find the perfect dress that I fall in love with. A dress that will make me feel beautiful and will compliment me well. My favorite part of a wedding has always been that moment when the bride walks into the church for the first time. Everybody stands up and looks at how beautiful she is. To me it also runs deeper then that. My favorite part when I am dressed up, even when I'm not feeling so beautiful, is when I come out of my room or house when Joe is waiting for me. It's that look that he gives me. The way he whispers to me how beautiful I look. I know he'll be happy in whatever I am in, but I want this to be extra special. It's not just my wedding...It's our wedding and I want to take his breath away. Ok, I am done rambling now.  haha

Picture from Yelp

It was a Saturday morning and I headed off to my appointment at David's Bridal. I chose to go to the one in Lombard, IL. I arrived with my mom, my cousin (also my Matron of Honor), and my sister-in-law to be (also my bridesmaid). After a few minutes of waiting, my consultant came out. I had already chosen my favorite dresses online so she was able to quickly pull my favorites. The first dress I put on I really liked. The more I wore it, the more I liked it. I went on to try a few others. I have to say though, if you go to David's Bridal ask for Amy to be your consultant. She was great. She listened to what I had to say and was very helpful. She made me feel comfortable and was very friendly. After trying on a few dresses I put that first one back on. I loved it even more. I think it was a slow-ish process for me to realize how much I liked it, but I think it's the one. I won't go into details in case my fiance decides to read this...but the more I had it on, the better I felt in it. I will say this. It was from the White by Vera Wang collection. Her dresses are fabulous and are a great price from being a couture gown. I had such a great time, I didn't want to take the dress off. I tried on nets and veils. I put on accessories. I think when I put on the right net or viel (I'm not giving it away!) we all kind of knew. It was then that I became an actual bride-to-be... in my head at least. haha. In case anybody is wondering, I didn't cry. haha My mom said she came close to it, but held back. :)


Vera Wang stated,


"I adore the challenge of creating truly modern clothes, where a woman's personality and sense of self are revealed. I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman." 


This is exactly what I want. That is what I think I have found. I adore her gowns. The next day I woke up unconsciously thinking about that dress.   :)

I didn't expect anything from David's Bridal. I will say this though (as a warning), I went the next day as a bridesmaid (for my brother's fiance to try on dresses) and this time,  we had a completely different experience. Again, Ask for Amy. She was amazing! It will make a difference.

Kitchen Chicago it is!

The venue has been booked!
Joe and I are super excited.

This also means that we have our wedding date. Drumroll please! haha

July 21, 2012

Corny picture, I know. :)

It is a huge relief to have signed the contract and to have picked a day. It's one thing I can finally cross off the really long to-do list. 

It looks like the ceremony and reception will all be there. I e-mailed my old church about the possibility of having our wedding there, but they are trying to sell it and are no longer booking weddings. I was devastated. It's ok though, Kitchen Chicago is fantastic. 

The next thing on our list as far as the venue goes, is trying to figure out if we want a sit-down dinner. It means 130 people will be invited. Unfortunately, that does not include some friends and co-workers. We now have to decide if we want a cocktail reception for up to 200 people or a sit down dinner. It's very tricky. I have been considering, if there is room in the budget, to do a dinner with the parents and bridal party only. That gets a little bit tricky, but imagine if we were able to do this at the Signature Room!? It would be fantastic!  We will have to see. I am getting a lot of negative thoughts on it. I don't know...

I made my first appointment for wedding dress shopping. I am going on Saturday morning to David's bridal. I feel like it's important for me to start there. There were about 7 dresses that I liked. I am super excited and very nervous. We'll have to wait and see what happens!