Texas-Houston

LONG...Sorry....Bride Seeking advice on wedding dress shopping, flowers, and etc.

cmill15cmill15 member
First Comment First Anniversary
edited January 2015 in Texas-Houston
I apologize in advance for all the posts I have posted and for the ones in the future.  I am overwhelmed with planning, but I feel I have come to the right place for answers.  

For starters, I have the following booked:
Ceremony and Reception - Brennan's Downtown in Oct. for a 11 am ceremony in the courtyard and reception following in the ballroom
DJ for reception:  Sound Spectrum Entertainment, the owner Jerry will be our DJ
Ceremony and brunch (meal time) music:  Leo Polk

I am considering using the following vendors:
Photographer - Chinh Phan from Fotowerk Group
or 
Fernando Weberich Wedding Photography
Dance Floor Rental - Mike's Dance Floor Rental (preferred vendor at Brennan's)
Wedding Dress Designer - David Peck - He is located in Houston and will custom make a dress starting at 2K dollars and it will not need alterations.  It is difficult to go with this option b/c I will not see the finished product and see if I like the fit until it is paid for and is constructed.  I'm not a visionary!  lol

I am in need of the following vendors:

- I need someone for flowers.  I will have 10 tables with 10 chairs around them and I need some type of budget friendly floral arrangement.  I am fine with bulk flowers from costco if I can hire someone to arrange them.  My budget is 1K

- We will need to drive away from the reception in some type of transportation.  Any budget friendly options?  Someone suggested hiring a cab and I have not ruled that option out.  However, my fiance is a car nut and would probably die over the thought!  Our reception will be over around 330.

-Do you think we need microphones for our vows?  We will be in a courtyard with 100 people?  If so, I need to rent this equipment.  Any recommendations and approximate cost?

- Wedding Cake Brennan's will be serving bananas foster, but we would like a cake to cut for pictures.  We are inviting 100 people  I am interested in a small 2 layer cake with simple frosting.  We would like to have sheet cakes in the back, ready to be served on the same plate as our bananas foster.  

The biggest issue I am having is finding a wedding gown.
I have been to several bridal stores (Weddings by Debbie, BHLDN, Nordstrom, Mia Bridal in River Oaks, Merry Go Round Bridal Consignment) and I have been searching every day on www.preownedweddingdresse.com.  I cannot find a dress in a price range and in the style I want.  I am interested in a trumpet style dress/fit and flare/mermaid gown.  My eye keeps going to lace sweetheart necks, V backs, with the rest of the dress in duchess silk or lace all the way down.  I would like a simple and classic dress without a ton of bling.  I do not like dresses that cut off at the knee and have a different fabric.  If you can recommend some dresses for me to try... I would be eternally grateful!  I have posted pics below of dresses I like, but are too expensive for me. 

My favorties are both by Alvina Valenta Style number 9457 and Style number 9002.  3K is my MAX budget for a dress (including alterations)

I was told to budget 1K dollars for alterations and to not get a dress larger than 2 dress sizes, bc it is difficult to alter a dress down too much.  
Is this true?

Do you have any recommendation for tailors?

I know this was a lot, but I appreciate any info on any of the vendors listed above or any advice you feel would benefit my situation!














Re: LONG...Sorry....Bride Seeking advice on wedding dress shopping, flowers, and etc.

  • Hello!

    I can only help you on the dress front. I shopped the following stores.

    Marry Go Round
    Impression Bridal
    Houston Bridal Gallery

    I ended up buying at Houston Bridal Gallery. Their prices range from about $1,500 to $3,000 for most. I really liked all the places I went.

    As far as alterations go I was told a good seamstress could do wonders. I am 2 sizes different on bottom than I am on top when they measured me and compared me to the designers chart and nobody seemed worried. Now I am no seamstress and I am sure it depends on the type of dress but my bridal consultant told me they have had people take a size 18 down to a size 4. So maybe it just gets a lot more complicated when you need more than 2 sizes down.

    That alterations budget sounds high to me. My wedding planner budgeted about $400 for alterations for me with my budget. Unless you are doing significant changes to a dress I would hope it would be well under $1000.

    Now since my dress has not come in yet I cannot comment on a specific seamstress but I will say my planner recommended getting a couple of quotes. So I will probably let the person at Houston Bridal give me a quote and take it to a different seamstress for another quote and compare. The seamstress that Marry Go Round recommends has great reviews on yelp. You can find a link to her website on their site. Oh, and on her site she has price guides that might give you an idea on how much your alterations will cost depending on the amount of work required.

    Sorry I cannot help more. I have not started on flowers yet but I think I have time, planner did not seem worried about that for another 6-8 weeks.

    I hope this helps and good luck!
  • Thank you for the info!  I went ahead and scheduled an appt at Houston Bridal Gallery based on your information.  :)
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