I am finally posting my review. Let me preface this by saying I live in FL, and did about 90% of my planning via the internet. phone, email. ALthough I did hire a DOC, I did mostly everything myself. When I came to long island to visit every few months, I crammed in as much wedding things as I could, but I mainly relied on the internet. I did so much research on the computer and everything came together for an amazing day. So for all of you out of state brides, yes it is overwhelming, but it is certainly doable. We also were very budget conscious in many areas of planning.
I almost feel that by being out of state, I was able to not be as picky about certain things (ie: FG dresses, BM dress fittings, color of ribbons for favors, etc) - I let alot of those things, go and left it up to those people to worry about, which was probably for the best.
Enagement ring/wedding ring/DH's ring:
Jared The Galleria of Jewelry (Palm Beach Gardens, FL). I knew the type of E-ring I wanted, something with a slight vintage look to it. We looked at several jewelers, and I happened to find this setting at Jared one day. There were a few I liked, and left it up to DH to decide, when he was ready to propose. He chose the diamond, and couple of months later after 3 years dating, he proposed on 6/15/07. He tied a ribbon around our dachshund's neck, with the ring attached, and the rest was history...
The great thing about the setting, was that it came as a set with the wedding ring. I really wanted a wedding ring that would sit flush to the setting, and it fit perfect. A few months before the wedding when we picked out DH's ring there, I got an enhancer there for the other side of the rings. The service is always excellent at Jared, and they have extended plans to buy for the rings/diamond that covers it for life.
STD's:
Vistaprint.com
We decided that we wanted to get married in cold weather, since we are in the heat in FL year round. We decided on 11/29/08. They were shipped fast, and everyone really liked them. They had that classic look I really wanted.
(edited pic to blur our name)
Invitations:
www.einvite.com (Costco's site): Since we were doing a black/ivory theme, I knew I wanted something a little different, not a white invitation. Sounds morbid, but my invitations were all black, but were classy as h ell. We got so many compliments written back to us on our response cards. I loved how they looked and the fonts were beautiful. The price was also insane! The quality was very good too. I just couldnt see spending more than a couple hundred bucks on an invite that people just toss in the garbage.
We also printed the labels ourselves for the envelopes. Assembling the invites was prob my least favorite part of wedding planning.
Shoes: A++
I forgot what site I ordered these from, but they were NINA shoes, and were really pretty, but did hurt a bit.
I changed into slightly lower heels (not into the flip flop thing) that I got at MACYS for $20 on sale. They were so pretty, and were like slippers. I danced all night long.
macys shoes
Headband/veil: A++
Barrons/Tri-County: Flea markets scare me.. but their prices cannot be beat. I explained I wanted a finger tip length veil, with rolled edges. I also had him scatter crystals here and there on the veil. It was very plain, but elegant.
The headband was very simple too. It added just enough glitz that I was looking for, nothing too over the top.
Day of Jewelry: A++
Ebay: I really loved this deco bracelet from e-bay. Even better, it was like $22! I also ordered a few pairs of chandelier earrings, and decided to wear these on my wedding day. I initially bought a solitiare necklace, but I didnt want to take away from my dress and neckline, and I felt my earrings and bracelet were enough.
Wedding gifts to each other: DH and I are both watch fanatics. He has several expensive, dressy watches. I know he was looking for a more casual watch, and I saw him eyeing this Swiss Army watch one day while we were at the jeweler, and decided thats what I would get him.
He got me a Raymond Weil watch, love it.
BM dresses:
Bill Levkoff / Renate's Bridal in Lindenhurst: D!!!!
The prices here are good, but dont let that sucker you in like it did to me. I ordered the black taffeta dress, but they didnt make the sash in champagne color for that dress. The dress came with a sand colored satin ribbon, which I wasnt crazy about. My aunt was kind enough to buy the champagne colored taffeta, and sew 4 sashes for my BM's. Anyway, back to Renate's, the salesgirl Melissa was nice and helpful, The seamstress was a nightmare. First of all, 2 of the BM who are maybe a size 8, were told to order size 14/16! Anyway, they had to take these dresses in so much, they needed so many alterations. The dresses were then taken in way too much, that she had to add panels to the dress. You cant see it in the pics, but the sides of the dresses looked like $hit. Furthermore, all my BM's were pulling up their dresses all night long, since she apparently does not know how to alter a chest properly. Buy your BM dress here, but take them elsewhere for alterations please.
Tuxes:
RSVP in Bayshore: A++
We first went to Wedding World in Commack, cause a friends family member worked there or something and told us to come in. It was a horrifying experience. We went to the tux dept, and there was a 16 yr old girl who was helping us. She had zero experience in outfitting a groom for a wedding. She had only 2 tuxes for him to try on, and wanted us to pick out tuxes and GM vests from a BOOK! Call me crazy, but this is your wedding day, you dont choose his tux from a book, you want to try on a few things to see what looks best! She said the only other tux jacket to try on was for another man's wedding the following day!!!!! W T F!?!?!?!! I told her sorry, this is not going to fly with me, and we left. We drove to RSVP in Bayshore, and wow - it was like night and day. The girl here (I think her name was Jennifer) was sooooo nice, so helpful, so dang knowledgeable about tuxes. Who knew there were so many styles? She outfitted DH in about 6 diff tuxes/vests/pants/shoes, right down to socks, to see what looked best. They have so many to chose from on site, so many vest colors/patterns, shoes.. you name it. The prices were a lilttle high, but they were Calvin Klein, and all the guys looked GREAT, esp DH!
Something old, new, borrowed, blue:
Old: my grandmother's diamond wedding band ( I wore it on my middle finger)
New: dress, jewelry
Borrowed: bracelet
Blue: undies
