I'm so happy to report that after months of torture, the bridesmaid dresses are now in my hands ::INSERT EVIL LAUGH::. I knew they'd arrive last week but I had no idea what day. When I got to work at the bridal shop on Friday my boss surprised me with the box - I really wanted to cry. Of course I dropped everything I was doing and ripped the box open like it was Christmas morning:

This was the first time I'd seen the dresses in this color - all I had seen was a little tiny swatch when I ordered them - I love the way that it turned out! The color is called RASPBERRY!

 

I have to admit that I'm probably more excited about the arrival of the girls dresses than I am of my own. It was such an ordeal getting them but so worth it - I'd do it again!

Cousin Jan was so excited as well that she came over to my job right away to try hers on.

 

...how cute is she? As stated previously, all of my girls have different dresses. Everyone has their quirks and parts of their body that they're not excited about. I picked out dresses for each person that I thought would compliment their body as well as camouflage the areas that they're not so fond of. Example: Cousin Jan hates to show her arms...problem solved!

We spent so much time locked in the dressing room fawning over the dresses that I kind of got in trouble (whoops - forgot I was working). I'm beyond pleased with everything and I know all the girls will be too.

... more on MY BIG FAT JAMAICAN WEDDING

I I was recently booked to do the makeup artistry for a bridal party on July 11th and decided to make a phone call to my friend Stephanie to find out if she wanted to assist me - and to ask her if she could do my makeup for my wedding day... only to find out...SHE RANDOMLY MOVED TO ATLANTA LAST WEEK! Oh crap! First I was shocked that she moved and then my second thought was "now who's gonna do my makeup?". Stephanie and I met in makeup school and became good friends. I always loved her work and she was the only person I could think of to do my makeup on the day of my wedding. Worse case scenario I'll do my makeup myself - which isn't a bad thing - just going to be another thing to add to my list.

photo credit: Punam Bean

First of all, let me apoligize for neglecting my Blogger Bride duties - shame on me. However I am happy to report that the plans have been coming together pretty smoothly and I only have about 5 months to go - time flys when you're planning a wedding.

Here's the story of our cake tasting:

We headed over to CAKE DESIGNS BY EDDA to sample a few delicious flavors for our wedding cake. Our venue provides cake exclusively from this company (unless you bring in your cake from somewhere else and then theres a fee) which was fine with me as they have a solid reputation. Fiance was very excited because he had picked out the design of the cake and it was the only decision he has made thus far regarding the wedding - although I've dragged to every vendor meeting, lol. Our moms tagged along as well as a family friend and so the tasting began:


Lesson learned: I should have just went with my fiance - with 5 people, everyone has a different opinion..and plus there's just not enough cake to go around. It's like calm down people - we're not here to have a feast, we're trying to make an important decision. I mean, we even had to ask one of the girls who worked there to bring out additional pieces of some of the flavors and I still didn't get to taste all of them. Some people people just don't understand the meaning of a "tasting" I guess - jeez!

So anyway, we ended up choosing 3 different flavors for our 3 tiers - my fiance and I both had our favorites and then we decided on one we thought everyone would love - I think thats fair. We ended up changing the cake we wanted because the one my fiance picked out would have to be made in 3 tiers and not 4 as pictured due to our guest count. I didn't think that I'd like it in 3 tiers - here's a pic of our thrown out cake design:

 I like it - but I love the new one we picked out 10x's more - which I then ended up making custom changes and upgrades to - including something they call CHANEL quilting - so excited about that. I will save a picture of our cake for the wedding re-caps of course.
Fiance and I love EDDA's - beautiful cakes that are still affordable - we hope you all have a fun and safe week.

I'm finally getting somewhere! Yesterday was a pretty slow day at the bridal shop, so I was able to put in the order for my girls! 9 out of 10 girls have ordered their dresses. 1 of my girls is having financial issues (which I completly understand) so I just have to wait and see what happens. I'm so happy to finally have the bridesmaids done with. The dresses are expected to arrive in July, which is cutting it kind of close with my plan to go to New York. Hopefully they'll arrive before I go so that I can bring the dresses for the New York girls and see them try them on. Ahhh such a relief to get this off my head. Though this dress didn't make the original cut, I ended up choosing to go with the dress that is pictured here as one of the styles. I have 10 girls ranging from size 4 - 20, so they'll all be wearing a different style complimentary to their figure.

LESSON LEARNED: Tell your bridesmaids that the dresses need to be ordered 1 - 2 months before the actual deadline. There will always be atleast one who will be super late and throw everything off. I wanted to girls to have paid by March, I should have said January.

How is everyone else comming along with their bridal parties?

Is anyone else having a large bridal party or am I the only crazy person?

Lesson Learned So Far: Big Bridal Party - BAD IDEA! (especially if they live in different states and/or countries...what was I thinking?!?)

I gave the girls a cut off date (March 1st) for everyone to submit their bust, waist and hip measurements to me along with a $50 deposit (which I think is more than resonable) so that I can order their dresses.
It is now March 3rd
I have 10 girls
I've received 6 measurements...
0 deposits
I've been sending them messages and reminders since January when I first booked the venue. They've had more then enough time.

My Solution: I'm calling everyone and/or making a phone call to each girl one by one with a final notice with a new deadline. On the day of the deadline I am going to order dresses, if they haven't provided me with the 2 things...I will continue to move forward.

First of all, I need the dresses to come in asap b/c I need the swatches to do my decor, linens, etc & secondly, I need to have the dresses by June or July so I can bring them to New York with me and disperse them accordingly. I'm not shipping dresses to people individually, I don't need another expense. I've been sending messages to everyone since January with very clear and simple instructions - I'm annoyed now
I'm looking forward to this...

...whether I have 10 or 2 girls...
{PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW REILY}

Booked my venue

Booked my DJ

Booked photo and video

Found my florist - need to discuss exact decor

Ordering the bridesmaid dresses and my dress within the next two weeks.

If I were still having my backyard wedding, my cocktails would look something like our Valentines Day dinner...

Or perhaps a set up like the one that we had a cosmetic seminar that I worked at this past week...
Simple, filling and most of all - cost effective...there is no rule that says you have a have a full on feast for your guests, especially if you're having something casual or trying to cut costs. If there is one thing I've learned from planning a wedding on a small budget it is: cut down on the cost of food!

HOW I'M SAVING MONEY ON MY WEDDING: Since my wedding venue doesn't allow "outside food" and I have to pay per person, I really had to figure out a way to make this place work with my budget. Their cheapest package was still more than I wanted to spend but this was the place that I wanted to be married and I refused to settle for anything less.

TIP : Lunch Instead of Dinner Packages

If you have a morning or afternoon wedding, the cost of catering is much less - sometimes half of what you would pay for dinner. I've visited venues where they offer the same exact dishes for lunch and dinner yet dinner was more expensive. I don't know why that is, maybe you get a larger serving at dinner.

At my particular venue, lunch was less than half of what I would pay for dinner. The menu's were completly different but they offered a variety of packages that could have worked for me.

My problem with the daytime wedding, is that I would only have access to half of the dining room while the other half would still be open to the golfers.

MY SOLUTION: I asked the banquet manager if it was possible for me to use the dining room at night (and get the entire room) if I ordered a dinner package instead of a Wedding Package. She said yes! I don't know if this is something that they would normally do, but  I've literally been stalking this place for about a year now (it was the first place  visited) she thought I would never sign a contract - better some money than no money at all right?

The difference between the Wedding Package and The Dinner Package?

1. My cake is not included. I now have to pay for cake sepearately per person, but it's at an affordable cost so it's not a big deal. I would say that their cake price is comparable to Publix (that works for me)

2. Alcohol is not included. I don't drink so this wasn't a problem for me. However, I do understand that my guests will probably expect alcohol. Our solution: A consumption bar - meaning, that for example we will allocate $500 to the bar - once that $500 is finished, guests are responsible for the cost of their own drinks. My wedding is going to be over at 11:30 so if people want to get drunk they can do it afterwards. There were other packages, but I didn't want to pay per person, since everyone doesn't drink - that wasn't something I'd want to spend thousands of dollars on. In addition, the champagne toast is not included. Note: Most wedding experts will tell you that most guests just have a sip of champagne for the toast and put it down. With my little budget, I'd be pissed if I walked around and saw glasses of champagne sitting on tables half full, lol. Let your guests toast with whatever they have.

3. My cocktail hour is not included. The cocktails are at an affordable price, it's not something we are going to worry about. We also have the options of doing displays which means that we won't have to pay per person.

With the dinner menu that I've chosen, I'm able to have a sit down dinner at an extremely affordable price - and more than 50% less than what I was paying for a wedding package.

So ladies, exercise your options! They are always options and everything in life is negotiable. I knew that I wanted this place from the beginning and I figured out a way to make it work for me. & although the recession is affecting our pockets, it's affecting vendors too - this is the perfect time to get married (lol)! If there is one thing I've learned through planning my wedding is that you should never get discouraged. If you've been following my blog you know that I've had some "moments".

I hope that I've helped someone by sharing some of my money saving tips. Have a great day everyone.

PS: I know that I don't post as often as I used to - but now that I've officially hit the 9 month mark, I'm getting down to business, which means more postings! :)

Now that the deposit has been made on the venue and the date has been set, it's time to whip my bridesmaids into shape, in the sense that it's time to get down to business. Working in a bridal shop I'd already decided before becomming engaged what bridesmaids line I would use "when I got engaged", lol. Now that we have just a little over 9 months to go, it's time for me to have the girls try on their dresses and get them ordered. This is a difficult task as my girls span from South Florida, to Orlando, The Bronx, Long Island, Monsey and Boston - only 3 of my girls are here in South Florida with me.

With 9 girls who have 9 different body types, I decided that they would all be wearing the same color from the same designer, but will all be wearing different styles. I'm in the process of locating stores near each of the girls that carry the style number that they will be wearing, I planned on having that information for them by the end of this week but somehow tomorrow is Friday already and I haven't done it...boy time flys when you go to school full time and work two jobs.

I was lucky enough to find a local shop that carries two of the dresses for two of the girls that live down here. Since one of the girls works just a few stores from the shop, I kidnapped her from work and had her try on a few styles that I was considering for the girls, including her own. The dress that I selected for her fits her body shape perfectly and she totally owned it - it was fabulous on her! She loved it, I loved it, she's going to look great walking down the aisle. In an effort not to ruin the final choice I'm not going to post the dress she will be wearing - however, I have pictures of two dresses that didn't make the cut...

These dresses are gorgeous, but I made the decision that bridesmaids will be wearing strapless gowns, while the matron of honor and maid of honor will wear one shoulder styles to show their...importance I guess.

If I'm not mistaken, I should be heading back over to the shop tomorrow to have my cousin try on her dress which they also have in the store. Hopefully this weekend I will have locations for all the other girls so that they can start trying their dresses on and send me pictures. Originally I was planning on having the girls order their dress in May, but I decided that March would be better as I would be able to bring the girls in New York their dresses when I go up there in the summer. The only person who won't be able to order in March is my sister because she won't be having her baby until June 6th - one of my cousins who is a bridesmaid is also pregnant but will be having her baby in about two weeks - two new babies this year, yay!

This past Friday I finally got the "go ahead" to put down a deposit on our desired venue that I've been stalking since I got engaged last May. I immediately called the banquet manager to set up my appointment for the following day. Up to last week when I spoke to her my November 7 date was still available, now she was telling me that during the week someone else made a deposit on my date. I was so heartbroken, it really felt as though someone stabbed me in the chest and was standing over me pointing and laughing. I've had my heart set on that date before I even got engaged, lol. Who is was this woman? My first instinct was to track her down as the girls did in "Bride Wars" and make her change her date (sidebar: I called all my bridesmaid and told them about the tragedy, they all suggested the same Bride Wars route, lol). Well anyway I made the appointment to see her the next day and told her that I'd figure out a date by the time I was in her office. Uuuuhhh - frustrated I decided to go with the following week, November 14. For a second I was thinking about moving it to November 6 which would be the Friday but Saturday is always a more convenient day especially for guests traveling from out of state and our family comming from Jamaica.

The next day I was so excited for work to be over, only to have my day ruined by "Sandy" The Brideszilla from Hell. Nontheless, after I got home and told my fiance what happened at work, making sure to call "Sandy" every profanity I could think of, we headed on over to the venue with the checkbook in hand and smiles on our faces...

As we pulled into the parking lot of the venue we knew "this was it", it felt so right - this was our place. After a few moments of waiting we got down to business with the banquet manager and made it official by signing our lives away. So this is it - no more wondering when, where or how we're getting married - I'm officially out of limbo my friends.

If you've been following my blog you've probably seen some or if not all of these pictures before, but hey, what's one more time? Here we go...

Here is the golf course where the ceremony will be held. This is where my family will be sitting in white folding chairs and my FH will be standing at the alter waiting for me. This is blank canvas to decorate however I want...that's gonna be fun....

This is where I would like the cocktail hour to be held. They usually have it somewhere else on the property but I think that this is going to serve best for me. The guests will be able to overlook the golf course while we take pictures.

& here is the dining room for the eating, dancing, and random antics of my family.

So the main reason i hadn't put my deposit down before was that I was scared that the date would sneak up on me and I wouldn't have any money to pay for anything - uuuuhh, fear! But then I thought, there has to be some way around this...so then I asked if the food would cost less for a day time event. Turned out it was a fraction of the cost - I ended up receiving a email of every single package that they offer. Then I had a genius idea - what if I just select a regular dinner package instead of a "wedding" package? I could still order my cake from them, no difference - so that's what I did. I am now paying less than half per person for "dinner" than what the "wedding" package offers. The "dinner" package doesn't include the champagne toast and open bar but not everyone drinks anyway so why would I pay per person for alcohol? Instead we are going to do a consumption bar, that way we can put a set limit on the amount of alcohol that we want to pay for. It also doesn't include the cocktail hour so if we would like we can include it by doing displays or passed cocktails )that we would have to pay for per piece) - we decided on a display...hello, that saved money than paying per person! To order the cake from them is around $3 per person, I can totally live with that.

Yea so I found out that I totally have skills! Skills that are going to save me thousands of dollars - wooo hooo!

Wanna hear even more good news? Yes? We're getting our pastor for FREE! The pastor at our church that we've been attending as of late has offered his services at no cost. He pulled my fiance and I aside this Sunday and discussed it with us. I wanted to say "HELL YEA" but that wouldn't have been appropriate so I simply gave him a hug and said thanks. Things are falling into place already...

GO ME...11.14.09

Quick!

What about this picture stands out to you?

She's wearing her glasses!

I wear glasses...

These things haven't left my face since I was about six years old - I can't see ANYTHING unless it's like...1 inch in front of me. They only come off if I'm in the shower, swimming or sleeping. I don't mind wearing glasses...I don't even remember that I wear them.

So here's my issue: what do I do about my wedding day?

I've tried to get contacts lenses around 4 different times in my life - all resulting in bad experiences. I've even had one of the ladies at the eye doctor calling me "worthless" because she just couldn't understand why I couldn't get them in. (I wonder what she's doing with her life now) Anyway, I decided that contacts just weren't for me and I swore to myself that I would never try them again.

Then there's LASIK, which I promised myself that I would get one day when I could afford it...that day hasn't come yet...

So what am I going to do on my wedding day? How will I see?

My mom came up with the hilarious idea of me just not wearing my glasses to the wedding, I told her that was a great idea except that I'll probably walk over to the wrong man or just end up at a different event completly. Besides, I wouldn't want to miss the way my fiance will be looking at me when I'm walking down the aisle or that first look when we see one another for the first time that day.

My friend told me that I absolutly cannot wear glasses to my wedding!

My fiance says he doesn't care less if I wear my glasses to the wedding as long as I show up!

I hate contact lenses, I can't afford LASIK, I'm stuck with my glasses...HELP ME!

This bride wore her glasses on her wedding day - the world didn't come to an end and she looks just as beautiful and radiant as any bride - and the world kept turning although she wore her glasses...

Any suggestions for me?

Please... Somebody... Anybody...

{1st and 3rd photos borrowed from Stephanie Williams... she's super talented}

{2nd photo provided by me, myself & I }