Engagement Pics: Round 2

I know I've already posted    WAY   TOO    MANY    engagement pictures, but I have some more.  I won a free session with a different photographer and decided to take advantage of the Michigan winters for some snowy pics.  Here are some of my favorites!

99 Red Balloons

So, I know I've already posted way too many engagement pictures (if there is such a thing), but my dad sent me some more!  The one right below in black and white is one of my new favorites!

Guest List

Now that the Save the Dates have arrived, the dreaded topic of the guest list has come up again.  We have made multiple drafts on various occasions.  We now have our A list (wouldn't get married without them), B list (would love to have them there) and our C list (not too sure about them).  The problem now is deciding where to make the cuts.  Also, I have recently started  a new teaching job at small school (I only have 8 coworkers).  I have become friends with 2 or 3 of the ladies that I work with and would love to invite them.  However, there are two problems with that:

1.  We haven't been friends very long.  I don't want them to think that I expect them to travel 12 hours from Michigan to New York just to come to the wedding.  And then I don't want them to think that I expect them to not come and still give a gift.  They are just B list people - would love to share the day with them, but it won't be the end of the world if they can't make it.  In fact, as I said it's so far away that I honestly wouldn't expect them to make the trip, but would still love it they did.

2.  I only have co workers.  That means that everyone will know who I invited and who I didn't.  This is my first year there and I don't want to cause any trouble with the groups dynamic.


We don't need a final list until January, but we both find the task overwhelming.   Please share your thoughts and advice. How did you make the cuts?

Our Save the Dates!

The following is our Save the Dates that we ordered (read about that here).  They are oversized postcards.

This is the front.

And this is the back.  The upper left-hand corner also has our names and return address printed on it.

I am so excited to have these done!  I can't wait for them to get here.  The latest is going to be next Tuesday.  I will let everyone know how they turn out.

The next challenge is going to be finalizing the guest list, so that we know who to address all of these postcards to!

Dress Disaster

As I talked about here, I have already found THE dress.  However, I found it while I was  home in Maryland for my engagement party, but I plan to buy it here in Michigan.  THE dress is part of Alfred Angelo's Disney Fairytale collection (Belle's dress).

So I called Alfred Angelo's a few days ago and basically told them that I knew what dress I wanted and was planning on coming in to try it on one more time/figure out all of the logistics of ordering.  They set me up with an appointment earlier today.

After an hour drive I arrived at their store.  I wasn't greeted for at least 5 minutes even though I was the only customer in the store (they had recently opened for the day) and the sales women was only a few feet away from me.  Finally, after introducing herself, she went over to the computer to check me in.

Apparently, I wasn't in the system for my appointment.  I explained that when I had called to make the appointment the women on the phone was having some trouble with the computer and kept losing my information.  She told me that she would write it in though and that I would be all set for my appointment......apparently that wasn't the case.

So, after waiting at least another 10 minutes, the sales woman agreed to take me for an appointment (still no one else in the store).  She kept asking which dresses I'd like to try on and I repeatedly told her that it would only be one dress - THE dress.  After that was established, she took another 10 minutes just to find the dress (after getting one wrong dress and bringing it to me).  I had even pointed right to the rack where the dress was, shown her a picture, and given her the style number.

Then came her attempt at getting the gown on me.  She seemed to have no idea what she was doing.  I ended up just telling her what to do.  She then proceeded to explain how she was still very new.  This was her first week of work (and she was apparently just left to figure things out on her own).

Fortunately, none of that mattered after I had the dress on.  <3  While admiring the dress (and myself in the dress I suppose) I asks the sales woman what the policy was on keeping the dress at the store between alternations.  I had read this particular stores reviews online and a common topic was that the stores gave you "x" number of days to pick up your dress after it arrived and then you were stuck with it.  It was your job to bring it back and forth for alterations and such.

That would not work for me since I live in an apartment (that's already too small) with my fiance.  She kept repeating that, "usually brides want their dress with them , so they keep it at home," avoiding answering my question.  I eventually gave up and decided I would ask someone else later.  Finally, she got me out of the dress and I was ready to order.  She then explained to me that they don't do dress orders on Sunday because there is no one there to do measurements.  I was confused as to why they had scheduled me for a Sunday then, when I had made it clear that I was planning to order the dress that day.

With that, I politely thanked the sales woman for her time and headed home.  Unfortunately, this is the only place within 200 miles of me that sells my dress, so it looks like I just have to suck it up and deal with them.  I am considering finding a local shop for alterations.  Then, after the dress comes in I won't have any reason to go back there.

Any dress stories? Feel free to share.

Engagement Party and Dress Shopping

My fiancé and I just got back home late last night after our engagement party.  We had so much fun.  It was so nice seeing all of our friends and family.  All of our immediate family was there, along with the majority of our wedding party (everyone but the best man was able to make it)!   Now that it's over, that means that we have just under a year until the big day- WOW!  Where did all of that time go?  We were talking on the flight home last night, and neither of us can believe that we've already been engaged for 2 months.  With that said, we are getting back into wedding planning mode.  As I mentioned here, I did go dress shopping while I was home in Maryland.  And, it just so happens, I found THE dress.  It's part of Alfred Angelo's Disney Fairytale Wedding Collection.  It's called the Belle Platinum.  I will add pictures later!  I can't believe how easy the whole process was.  I began my search at David's Bridal where I tried on about 15 dresses.  My next appointment was at Alfred Angelo's where this was the 3rd dress that I tried on.  I was supposed to have two appointments later that day, but I immediately called and cancelled.  Between the engagement party and the dress, everything is coming together and making me realize that this is actually happening.  Less than a year away, we can't wait!

Anyways, time to get to work on some Thank You cards for gifts from the engagement party.

http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/styles/217

EDIT:  Read about my dress shopping adventures here.

Blogged!

I'm excited to announce that our engagement was features on the blog Wedding Thingz.   It includes a brief description of our proposal and our engagement pictures.  The link is below:

http://www.weddingthingz.com/ashley--dave.html

I just wanted to give a big thanks to Wedding Things for including our engagement story on their site.  If you have time check out the blog.  It's full of some great ideas, helpful reviews and some awesome giveaways.  :)

Dress Shopping

I forgot to mention yesterday that I have plans for dress shopping!  I am going while I am home in Maryland for the engagement party.  Oh, I also forgot to mention that all of my bridesmaids are going to be able to make it to the party - I couldn't be happier!   The best part is, that since I will be at home in Maryland, my mom and grandmother will also be there.  I was so worried about having to go dress shopping alone, but it looks like it all worked out.

Anyways, in order to prepare myself for dress shopping, I have been stocking up on bridal magazines and obsessing over Pinterest.

After looking at literally hundreds of dresses, I noticed that pretty much all of the dresses that I picked out looked very similar.  From what I've read, it seems that I want a strapless ballgown with pick-ups.  I also like some beading, but nothing over the top.   Who knows if any of this is what I'll actually want once I get to the salons and start trying things on.  Anyways, I have to start printing/cutting out pictures to bring to my appointments, so that I have somewhere to start.

Knock,Knock

Who's there?  My fiancé and I....time for some more engagement photos.

These were taken at my colleges brownstones.  The others with balloons were just around outside.

Engagement Pictures

So my dad (i..e my engagement pic photographer) has been slowing sending me the pictures.  He took over 5,000, so he is going through them and editing the good ones.  Below are a few that I've got so far.

More Outfit Ideas

Outfit #1:  For the park/playground.  I am looking for a cute pair of red flats instead of the white sandals, but no luck yet.  Also, I am thinking of getting some red balloons!


Outfit #2:  Planning on wearing this for the pictures at the brownstones downtown.


Outfit #3:  Plan to also wear this at the playground for a few shots.  As I have said, he proposed at the zoo.  This is t-shirt that I got there that day.  Not positive on this one yet, but I like the idea of it.


So what do you guys think?

New York: Venues

We bought our tickets last night.  We are officially taking a trip to New York.  We will be there from August 9th - 12th to look at possible venues.  His parents (that live in the area), along with my grandmother and father will be joining us.  Everyone is very excited since it is there first time since we have been engaged that they will be seeing us or each other.

Since we are only going to be in the area for a few days, my goal is to get as much information as I can on the venues before we go out there.  I came up with a list of what was important to us in a venue and used them to create a chart (you can find it here)for comparing all of the venues.  Hopefully that will help.  My next step is to call all of the venues to make appointments.

Guest List

My grandmother needs a guest list for the engagement party.  Dave and I decided the best way to come up with one was to create a draft of our wedding guest list and then decided from there who to invite to the engagement party.  The first step was easy - we both added all of our family to the list.  Next, we each listed friends that we would want to invite.  One problem that we had was whether or not to give someone a plus one.  The other  problem was that as soon as we added one friend to the list, this made us think of another one that we had forgot to invite - the list kept growing.  We decided on just adding everyone for now that we would consider inviting, take a break from it, and then go back to it in a few weeks.

Some guest list etiquette.

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Engagement Party

My grandmother wants to throw an engagement party for Dave and I.  The plan is to have it in Maryland.  All of our family will be invited along with our close friends that will be part of our wedding party.

We have the date of the party set for Saturday, September 29.  We can't wait to see everyone and share our engagement with them.

Things to do for the engagement party:
- come up with a guest list
- start our wedding registry

We are planning on having the event at my grandmothers house.  She is going to set up a tent in her back yard.  She is also planning on doing invitations and linens to match our wedding colors.

Engagement Party Basics

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