I said yes

My most important Yes was to the girl.  The yes everyone has been asking me about ever since then is the dress.  And on Tuesday I found one that made me say yes. But first, a few other updates.

On Wednesday we went to Atlasta Catering and had a really amazing tasting with my mom and Kandi's Aunt Patti. We just tried 5 things from the menu that we liked the most online.  Things weren't as good as they sounded - they were better.  And, we found out that they do all sorts of other things including table/chair/linen rentals which means if they were doing that too we wouldn't need to pay for a day-of coordinator to make sure the stuff was all set up - they take care of it.  It could be a nice savings. As a bonus, they are familiar with both our site and in using 8-person square tables.  Of course it doesn't hurt that the woman we worked with was also awesome. 

Sunday we scheduled to meet our florist.  Yes, it's official now that Michelle from The Crazy Daisies will be our florist.  We had that special moment of bonding when we met, and it was destiny.  Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?  So often brides come to her and say, I want this, this and this, and it has to look like this.  I find that to be boring.  I liked Michelle's outside the box creativity and I wasn't about to stifle her with all sorts of boring rules about what we wanted.  Her only limitation is our budget.  We're having to stretch it a bit (my goodness flowers are expensive!) but we know that Michelle will work to keep that number as low as possible.  She loved the reception space - and who wouldn't?  It definitely inspired her.  I think after getting to know us after all this time and then seeing the two spaces she has a really good idea of who we are and what we want.  We're totally on the right track there.  She wants to take us to a floral wholesaler to see what flowers and hard goods we love so we just need to find some time that we can randomly take off in the middle of the day to make that happen since it's only open from 6am-2pm M-F.  Yikes!  We'll find a way!

Now, back to the dress.  You aren't going to see if of course.  Kandi is on a need to know basis and all she needs to know is how to match it.  So here's the info.  It's white.  It has silver accents.  Done.  Other than that I have a few friends who've seen it, and Aunt Patti will see it so she can go with Kandi to make sure the outfit she chooses will match nicely.  And just so you know - I'm not allowed to see that one either.  Which somehow, even though I know it is, doesn't seem fair.  Then again, it also was really strange for me to make such a big decision about a dress without my best friend there beside me.  But of course, she's not allowed to see until the big day. 

While I can't share what did make the cut I can certainly share a few of the contenders.  Well, they weren't all contenders, but they all had their good points. 

This was our top pic after 2 hours at Azteca. I know how happy I look in this picture but we had to "hide" that we were even taking these pictures as they were NOT allowed.  We were such rebels!

This one came in second. There was a LOT of skirt on that dress!  You can also see some of Aunt Patti's hair and her shoulder in the bottom corner.  And you know how she loves pictures...

And then we went to David's Bridal.  We did not have high expectations at all.  We'd heard nothing good.  And yet that wasn't what we found at all.  This dress had a champagne accent and our consultant advised it was perfect then for the mother of the bride to wear a champagne dress to match.  Nice idea, right?

How cute is this?  I have to say it's one of my favorite pictures from the whole dress trying-on process.  I love this hat.  I so wanted a hair piece kind of like this.  And it was the only dress that I found that worked really well for what I wanted.  And yet - I didn't get that dress...

This is a better picture of the dress.  It's cute.  I had to hold the top to get it to sit right on me, but that is a quick fix in alterations.  The gathers are nice, though I'm not totally in love with gathers (often feels princess-y) I do love how they hide a tummy! It had just a tiny little train too. 

The bottom on this is really cute and has great "movement" when I walked.  But even better movement when I swirled around.  :)  Still a kid at heart. 

This dress was the other real contender.  You know all those dreams most girls are supposed to have about their wedding day?  I think it's been established here that I really didn't have many of those.  That said, I remember wishing for a slightly larger version of a collar like this one so I was really excited to try it on.  It had a very cool back with buttons from the tip of the collar at my hair line all the way down to the long train.  And yet this dress didn't make it. 

Curious to see which dress makes the cut?  I'll let you all see it in October.  Until then - it's need to know. 

And you don't need to know.  :)

Baby steps forward

We haven't won the lottery yet - but I did get a full time job! Woo hoo!

My part time job became a full time job and I really do enjoy it. The money is a little well under what I said would be my absolute minimum to pay the bills - but it's a job. I'm starting to look at options for a part time gig now, as is Kandi. And hey - I always thought it could be fun to work at Starbucks. Or maybe Target - I look great in red and I'd love the discount! Either way we're happy to have what we have.

Last week was a small bridal show put on by some of the same folks who did the show where we won the photo shoot. Knowing we were going to attend it, the photographer brought some sample pictures from our shoot. They were very cute. She also was organizing which couples would be participating in some of their "fun" events - and chose us to participate. Some were silly little things like doing a couples dance or trying to catch a bouquet. Those were all to win things, and we didn't, but it was still fun. Another thing that gave no prize except for the experience itself was ... well... I don't remember what it's called but here's how it went down. Kandi was handed a 4 inch round cake covered in icing. I was handed a 4 inch round cake similarly frosted. And then - we were to shove it in the other person's face.

We both had cake everywhere. It was kinda awesome. Wouldn't ever want something that messy, sticky and "make up ruining" like that on the day of - but it was fun to do for the event. Both the main photographer and her assistant were busy snapping away while we were doing it and I'm hoping we can get some great shots out of it.

Another great thing about this event was that my mom was able to join us. It was her first bridal show and a really great introduction to it all. She got to enjoy chatting with all the vendors, trying all the fun appetizers and sampling the desserts. And of course, it was nice to just spend the time together!

The show was at an amazing venue, Bentley Projects. In all honesty, it was one of the first places I thought about when we started picturing reception locations. I didn't even know they would do it - but then once I saw the pictures my next concern was if we could afford it. Sadly, we likely can't afford it - but I'm still requesting a pricing sheet.

Next week we have an appointment for a private cake tasting with a new company we found at the big bridal show called the Lovely Little Cake Shop. And then the next day we both have an appointment at David's Bridal to try on dresses. Yes, I said both of us. At the bridal show you got a $50 gift certificate for each person that made an appointment - so we each did. I haven't convinced her to actually try on any but I REALLY really am hoping I can convince her. I think it could be so much fun.

We also need to sit down and have the conversation we've been putting off a bit. So - now that I have a job - what can we really spend? It's a tough call. Because if we decide based on just the job I have and not any part time jobs we hope to get we might not like the answer we get. We've talked about the idea of putting it off until Spring, or even next year - but neither of us love that idea. So, we'll see. For now - fingers crossed on us or a family member winning the lottery! :)