Royal Bridal - A Review

I have to say, the best bridal shop I went to was Royal bridal. Vera, the owner, was extremely helpful. The shop was small but very pretty. I went through the racks and explained to her my budget and what I wanted. I picked out numerous dress to try on (along with my bridesmaids and my mom). I even pointed out some that weren't in my price range but had to try on. You know, the ones you see in magazines. Yes, I tried on wedding dresses that I have seen in magazines! How cool is that? Haha. Anyway, the dress of my dreams, or so I thought, just wasn't me. I didn't love it so much on. The black belt it came with was the reason I wanted to try it on so bad. In person the sparkly belt went with it so much better. I was shocked that I wasn't in love. So I tried on more. I had a blast trying on all the dresses as Vera helped me and explained everything to me.

Then I tried on a dress that made us all wonder if I was going to say yes! I had the David's Bridal dress in the back of my mind, but this dress was making it difficult to choose. My Matron of Honor cried and I could tell that everybody loved that dress. I liked it. It was beautiful....but was it me? I tried on all the accessories. I think that is what blinded me at first. The dress came together so well. They had some beautiful accessories, and together with the dress...it was hard not to look away. I walked in it. I sat in it. We took a ton of pictures. (I LOVE when they let you take pictures. It helps you see the dress in a new way). I couldn't commit, and I loved Vera for not pressuring me at all. She didn't even kick us out or hint that the store was supposed to be closed 30 minutes before we left! It was a great experience, and I have no complaints.

When we left the store I was so torn between the David's Bridal one and the Royal bridal dress, that I called and we headed off to try on the David's Bridal dress. That's when I knew, when it was all so fresh in my mind, what the decision was. Although, David's Bridal didn't have all the accessories and It was just me and the dress. I felt like it was my dress. 


I would highly recommend Royal Bridal. I give it 5 stars! The dresses they had were gorgeous and Vera was amazing (and it is essential to have a good consultant for a good experience).

To view pictures of their shop go to their facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1782352521

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. 

Wedding dress shopping. A Brides by Demetrios review.

I could not fall asleep yesterday. It was very odd. I was so tired. It could be because my brain can't stop thinking about the wedding. It is a whole year away... I figured that once school starts time will fly by, and it will fly by fast. It was super irritating to get up this morning very sleepy before an 11 hour shift at work to realize....I've woken up too early. So now I have about 40 minutes to spare. Why not blog?

This is what the store looks like. I will say, it was very pretty. 

After having that wonderful experience at David's Bridal, it was time for shop number two. After plans for Sunday were cancelled I quickly texted my girls to let them know wedding dress shopping day number two was in motion. When we pulled up I immediately remembered the place. It was the same place my cousin had went to. I hoped all would we be well as we walked up those stairs into Brides by Demetrios. After filling out my information for them, my consultant greeted us. I told her what I want. She had me start to look around a bit and then quickly escorted my group to sit down on the couches and wait as I came out. One thing I have to warn you is to make sure you wear a strapless bra! The one I had to put on....just wasn't pretty. I'll leave it at that. This made me think "strike one". She didn't ask me if I wanted somebody to help me or her. I guess that is the way they do things, but I liked it how they asked at David's. Anyway, I came out in the first dress. I wasn't convinced. As a matter of fact, I don't remember what it looked it! My girls weren't either. Dress number two proved to be more successful and turned out to the be the best one I tried on at that store. The fabric was gorgeous. I just wanted something I haven't really seen before. I felt like maybe i've seen that one. It needed a touch of pizzaz or just a little something to make it unique. I found myself altering every single dress in my head. I don't want to have to do that. Ahhh, then strike two. Another consultant started talking loudly to mine as we were putting a dress on. A minute later she opened the curtain. I found it rude. She didn't ask. She just did it. She was asking about who was in the other room and how nobody knew. She then proceeded to ask for the dress I had just put on! Another bride wanted to try it on! It was irritating. I expected my consultant to apologize for the way she acted. It looked like she was. It was rude and a little obnoxious. Instead she smiled and said, "She's so....cute". Cute? Cute?!?! Cute was not the word. I tried to brush it off but this really confirmed the fact that I didn't want to be there. I felt rushed and quickly returned to my room after not falling in love with it anyway. Strike three was her taking her time putting each dress away. It really annoyed me. Here I am half naked next to a stranger as she takes her time putting the dresses away. Not just that, but it really slowed down the appointment. She made me step into the dresses instead of pulling them over and the same to take it off. It was really not the fastest way to do it. It dragged. A dress later the lady came back. She came back!!!! This time she barged in with my in me in my underwear. Again, without asking or without a warning. This made me so mad. It was very rude and inconsiderate. I think she ran out of suggestions when she eventually no other dress to give me. I think she thought I was confused on what I wanted. She told me to look at the racks again. In their stiff (corset on top) dress, I began searching...through every dress in the store. I felt like it would be weird of me to walk away. Everything was the same though. A lot of this and a lot of that. Not enough of this. They all started to look the same as my back started hurting from the dress. I was already done. I did go through them all and picked one out to try on. She said she'd meet me in the dressing room. I went to my girls and told them I was done. There was one more, but I was pretty much done and ready to go eat! I went to the dressing room and when she finally arrived, and told her I was done. Her reaction made me feel awkward as I fumbled around trying to get dress. She suggested that I look at bridal magazines, and look at all the dresses. She was basically implying come back, when you know what you want. I don't think she meant it in a mean way, but after all that I know I will never step foot in that shop again. I do not recommend it.

 I do realize that a part of the reason why I didn't find a dress was because I might have already found the one.  I pushed that dress aside and thought, "are any of these dresses me?" The answer was no. What I want could not be found there.

At the end of the day, the consultants were nothing special. The other consultants are not considerate of brides that are not their own. Some of their dresses (I supposed this is with any place) made me feel like the dress was worth $300. I am not going to buy a dress that is over a grand to have it look like it was  $300.  I want my dress to look like a million bucks and look even better when it is on me. They did have an equal amount of dresses that looked fabulous for the price. I think it was just some materials. Again, I will not be going back.

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.

Centerpieces for a budget

I never cared that much about the floral arrangements at weddings. At the end of the day, who will remember that? I though that I could possibly make them myself. Then I went to Dominick's. They have gorgeous flowers! They really were so beautiful and the prices were great when you think about what it includes (vase, flowers, and having it already arranged!). 

I don't know what kind of flowers I want, but these were pretty and fit the color scheme! 

I also loved the shape of the vase! 

I know this isn't the cheapest way to do things, but when I think about it, I don't really want to put floral arrangements together the day before if I don't have to. If it is a cocktail reception I only need half the tables to have flower arrangements on them. Let's say they they cost $25 each (the most expensive arrangement from above was around $25), then that means it will be around $300 to decorate the tables. Not too bad. I am going to see if they actually do weddings and if I can order them in advance. I'll update as soon as I find out. For now, I am loving this idea. 

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! 

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!