The Bridesmaids' Dress Search is Over!

Okay, so I can officially say that the hunt for the bridemaids' dresses is officially over. We did shop at a few stores earlier, but the dress we picked out was a little expensive for our budget. It was a very elegant burgundy Jim Helm dress with a low back. It would be about $250.00/each not including any alterations, etc. I thought that might be a little tough on the bridesmaids since they are already paying for the trip to come to the wedding; so we tried other alternatives. I contacted a friend of mine to see what it would cost to make the dress from scratch, and the quote was $300.00/dress. So at this point I was a little discouraged. I did surf around the internet, and I did find a few things that I did like. It's kind of a hit or miss when I can't physically touch the material or see what it looks like on one of my girls. In the end, I decided not to go that route. Then, with the local Cali gals, we scheduled a Sunday trip to Fashion Alley in downtown LA which actually turned out to be a really great excursion. We went into a lot of stores and found a dress right away. It is as elegant as the Jim Helm dress if not more because there was also beading on the dress, and it came with a scarf that had some beading on it as well. Kathy and Charissa looked really great in the sample dress. I am extremely excited about finally checking this off my list. We did quite a lot of dress hunting, but it was definitely worth it. I can't wait for you all to see what it looks like.

Custom Made - A Personal Touch

So this week, I got jury duty. I've found that it is incredibly hard to do any wedding planning at the same time, but I was able to check a few things off the list. I talked to Mahalia (eM) the other day for about 2 hours. We had a lot to catch up on, but we talked about some of the wedding details. One of which was the guest book. What I imagined was a customized photo book filled with photos and designs where there would be topics that the guest could also add in addition to their name such as: advice, favorite memories, favorite movies, etc. eM was nice enough to undertake this creative venture. I think it is extremely ambitious, but if anyone was going to do it, eM would be the best. She always makes creative Christmas cards, and even though she's farther away she can still have a little personal involvement with some of the wedding planning and preparations. I can't wait to see how it will turn out.

Some other handmade plans for a personalized wedding are:
1) crochet garter
2) Unity Candle (complements of Paul's mom)
3) invitations & Programs
4) favors
5) Table runners (my mom's going to sew)
6) We're going to attempt to make a veil. I think it would be fun.
7) Flowergirl basket
8) Card Box
9) I want to glass etch our champagne glasses with our names, date, and floral motif.

I know it's a long list, but I think having a personal touch in the wedding is important to me. I will always have a backup and buy the usual stuff if I need to, but I would love to at least make an effort especially since there are so many talented and great people who I can call to help. Plus, Paul's mom has a really cool scrapbooking machine called a Cricut, and it would really be helpful with a few of our projects. I'm really excited about it all.