Next up are reviews related to attire and details. Again, to see some pictures of the things I am talking about you can visit my photographer's blog at
www.jodischlosser.net and scroll down to wedding "Nancy and Justin".Wedding Gown: Maggie Sottero "Sandrina": Purchased at dorianneveils.com: I did my wedding gown search in Chicago - went out one day and found my dress within an hour (I either was really lucky or not very picky!). I took down the style number and dress maker in the dressing room, and went home to purchase the gown online. I searched high and low, and eventually found the gown through a retailer at this website: dorianneveils.com. Apparently recommended by Oprah (?!), I got my dress for about 40% cheaper by buying on this website. There was absolutely no problem with the dress - it arrived in pristine condition and I couldn't be happier with it! Groom's Tux: Calvin Klein purchase; Groomsparty Tuxes: Men's Warehouse: My fiance purchased his tuxedo - he was really happy with it - a Calvin Klein classic black wool tuxedo. His groomsmen rented tuxes at the Men's Warehouse at Chesterfield Mall. There were no complications. We got a deal where the ring bearer's tux was free, and that was nice. I don't have much to add here because this was a detail I left to the groom!Invitations/Save the Dates: mygatsby.com: When I see polls on these forums about what was the biggest wedding waste of money, my invitations spring to mind! I had a heck of a time with invitations because I was using deep plum as my color and apparently when the wedding industry hears that you want a shade of purple, they assume you want lilac or bright purple. Because I wasn't finding anything through the regular venues, I landed at MyGatsby.com because you can choose your own colors and completely customize your invitation suite. I went with a heavy metallic card stock with plum background and cream inner, with chocolate thermography type-set. I thought the end product was very beautiful, but I really think I overpaid. To make matters worse, 2 hours after I placed my order a coupon code came through my email from them and they wouldn't honor it. I thought that was really crappy. If I had to do it all over again, I would go with Wedding Paper Divas, waiting until they had a sale going on. Although they don't use thermography or the heavy, luxury papers, I think their products still look really classy and I really dont' think people notice invitations that much...Details: Hands down, the biggest compliment I continue to receive about my wedding was the attention to detail and the way we made our guests feel comfortable. Some things that I'm really glad I did related to this point are as follows: 1. we put a lot of time and money into the hotel gift bags2. we handed out bottles of personalized water following the outdoor ceremony that thanked our guests for joining us3. our ceremony programs were totally "us" - we included our thoughts on marriage, I added my "Something borrowed, something blue, something old, something new" specifics, and we included a crossword puzzle with clues about us4. we made baskets for the reception bathrooms with toiletries and mints, and in the ladies room I put a huge basket of 'Old Navy" flip flops with a sign that said "Kick off your heels and step into a pair of dancing shoes!"5. our "guest book" was an enormous bottle of wine written all over with gold and silver pens - we were delighted by what people wrote - and we can't wait to pop it open on our 10-year anniversary! 6. our escort cards were unique - Ferrero Rocher chocolates with name tags on front, table assignment on back. We also displayed a seating guide in case there was confusion - this helped guests quickly find their seats!7. my dad and I have a tradition of always dancing together to that dorky song, "SHOUT!" and even though it was totally untraditional, that's what we did for our father/daughter dance - my guests thought it was cute and we later realized it was a perfect way to get the party started - so my takeaway from this is to not be afraid to do something different! I only add my thoughts here because there were definitely points in the wedding planning process where I wanted to just drop all these "extras" - if you are feeling that way or are on the fence about any of these ideas, take comfort in the fact that people DO notice details and it DOES make your day extra special.
