Bridal portraits when OOT?

texgal79

Disclaimer that this message is directly mostly at out-of-town brides planning (or who have already planned) a wedding in Austin. I am an Austin native, but live in D.C. and we're getting married in Austin on 11/6. I had always planned to fly down a few weeks beforehand in Oct. to do my bridal portraits with our wedding photog, and use that time to get my hair/makeup trials with my selected vendors. But it's turning into a huge hassle -- first, I am worried about hauling the dress down there, then back to D.C. to finish alterations, then back down there for the wedding. I'll probably have to get it pressed multiple times which means more $$. I obviously don't want to come down too early since I want my dress alterations to be done as close as possible to the big day... and my photog can't do any Sat in Oct. so I figured I thought I would come down 10/21 and do it that Fri, two weeks before the wedding. I would just leave my dress at my mom's house until the wedding. Turns out my makeup vendor can't do either Fri, Sat OR Sun that weekend (she can only do the previous wknd, Oct. 15.)  I am a little worried three weeks out and not bringing my dress back for one final fitting may be dicey. But I do want to try out the makeup vendor beforehand. Not that I think I'll drop much weight (I wish), but still...
So, sorry for the stream of consciousness but if anyone has suggestions on this how you worked this out, I welcome them. Thanks!

mon@ATX

i'm getting married in october and recently chatted with my photog and makeup person (we were getting our e-pics done) - they're both booked solid during october, because it's one of the most popular months to get married in ATX.  how about you come down here for the pics the weekend of october 15 and make arrangements to have your final fitting here (if needed).  alexia gavela comes highly recommended for alterations (that's where i'm getting mine done), as do some other shops/tailors. 

texgal79

Thanks, Mon, I hadn't thought of getting a final alteration if needed with a local tailor instead. (All the alterations are included at my shop, so I am just being cheap about it   I did like Alexa Gavela when I tried on dresses there. I didn't even think about the whole Sat/high wedding season conflict and just assumed it would be easy to schedule. Times like these I wish I could be there to do things on a weekday!

mistyleon

Mon's suggestion sounds like a good one.  Even if the alterations end up costing more, it might be worth it for your peace of mind in testing out the hair and makeup vendor. 

It can be hard to coordinate all of this stuff as an OOT bride.  I'm in Dallas so transporting the dress is not as big of an issue for me, but it is challenging when the vendors you want to meet with are all booked up on the weekends and you can't exactly make an appointment with them for a Tuesday afternoon.  Good luck making it all come together!  I lived in D.C. when FI and I first met and used to travel to Austin all the time to visit him, so I know that just the trip from D.C. to Austin can be a lot to deal with.

texgal79

Thanks, Misty! Or is it Mi Style On? J/K. Yeah, had I known I needed to budget another $2K just for plane tickets back and forth from Austin, would need to take all these extra days off work, and that we couldn't really bring anything with us when we go down for the wedding, I might have reconsidered the long-distance planning! It would be great to be able to make stuff, like programs, but since we can't even drive there, it's just cost-prohibitive. Thank goodness for online shops that ship! And you are right, weekends are terrible for vendors - I've had to do everything on Fridays or Mondays.