Beginning the Dress Hunt - Part 2

Our second stop of the day on Saturday will be The Bride To Be. I've seen them at a lot of different bridal shows, so I am excited to get in the boutique and try on some beautiful gowns! 

Part of me would love to find my dress right away in our day of dress shopping, but another part of me wants to stretch the process out and make it to my appointment here! I really haven't thought about what I'll do if I find a dress that I think is "the one" at my first appointment of the day at One Fine Day. Do I wait until I try on other dresses, or do I follow my gut? I'm getting way ahead of myself, I've watched enough of Say Yes to the Dress to know that there is a real possibility that I could try on hundreds of dresses before I find the one I love. 

I'm really excited about The Bride To Be because their selection is a lot different from One Fine Day. Both have amazing gowns to choose from, but don't have any of the same so I'm sure to have a completely different experience at each! The Bride To Be has a lot of gorgeous dresses, and of course I already have a handful I'm loving already. 

1. Eden Bridals - GL017
2. Eden Bridals - BL047
3. Eden Bridals - BI033
4. Wtoo - Catalina
5. Watters - Palm Springs
6. Augusta Jones - Paz

Beginning the Dress Hunt

On Saturday I will be venturing out with my mom, grandma and three of my bridesmaids to try on wedding dresses for the VERY FIRST TIME! I am so over the moon, can't hold it in, excited I can hardly stand it. I have been dreaming about searching for the dress of my dreams every since Joseph proposed, and now that the time is almost here, I'm getting really anxious!

When my mom and I finally decided on a day that we could go dress shopping I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Fort Wayne has a number of wonderful wedding stores, but there are two that have really caught my eye, both on my own, and at the different bridal shows I've gone to. The first is One Fine Day and the second is The Bride to Be. I've been pouring over both websites, collecting an idea of the gowns I like the most at each.

The first appointment I set up, and the first of the day, is at One Fine Day. One Fine Day is on a super busy road that I pass by often and has a huge window display that makes me hold up traffic every time I drive by. I always love to see what dresses are being displayed in the window and if there is anything that I want to try on. Needless to say, between driving passed the storefront and checking the website for new arrivals, I already have a couple of dresses that I absolutely want to try on. I've always thought I would wear a big princess gown with tons of tulle and jewels and glitter, but I'm not ruling anything out. There are a few dresses I like that break this idea, and many people have told me to try on at least one style that I don't think I would like, because that often ends up what you'll love.

These are the dresses I'm dreaming of at One Fine Day. Some of the dresses I love are super princessy, while there are a couple that are a little more classic looking with some sass.

 

1. Paloma Blanca 4302
2. Modern Trousseau - Max
3. Modern Trousseau - Ginny
4. Lazaro 3265
5. Lazaro 3269
6. Kelly Faetini - Adele
7. Lazaro 3319
8. Tara Keely 2303

Wedding Inspiration: Brooch Bouquets

A couple of days ago my grandma (who is OBSESSED with Pinterest) pinned this absolutely gorgeous brooch bouquet.I instantly fell in love. I really hadn't given much thought about a brooch bouquet before. I've seen them on Pinterest and wedding blogs, but never considered the idea for my own bouquet. I've been so focused on finding the perfect flowers and colors and such. But something about this one just made me obsessed with the idea. It just looks so chic and sophisticated while also having a lot of uniqueness and flair. Amy commented on the pin and said she would start looking for brooches if I really want to do it, and if we can find brooches that look as great together as this (and some of the other lovely ones I have found) I would love to!

I love how you can pretty much take any combination of styles of brooches, and even colors, and somehow it all looks like it was meant to go together to begin with. The middle one with all of the different colored brooches is so much fun!

1. Chic Vintage Brides
2. Wedding Chicks
3. Lillybuds
4. Girly Wedding
5. NorCal Wedding
6. Green Wedding Shoes
7. SilverStems via Etsy

Wedding Inspiration: Oz

I was poking around Green Wedding Shoes and came across this beautiful, whimsy, wedding inspiration shoot that pulled its theme from both The Wizard of Oz and the new Oz: The Great and Powerful. I have loved the Wizard of Oz since I was little. I wanted a dog like Toto and glittery red shoes like Dorothy. Glinda the Good Witch was so beautiful and dream-like to me, and I wanted to be her. I'm also really excited to see Oz: The Great and Powerful. I love Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and James Franco. I've also heard really great things about the film!

In this inspiration shoot there are all kinds of elements from both Oz films. The bridal look takes cues from Dorothy; with the blue in her dress, red ruby "slippers" and the braid in her hair. The groom's look has some elements of the Wizard. There's even a little "Toto" with a sparkly red bow tie! A Glenda dress is featured that is soft, floaty, and beautiful, just like Glenda. The reception decor and the cake pull scenes from Auntie Anne's farm, the Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City. I really love the bride's emerald departing dress. I always love coming across things like this. I might not have an all out theme for my wedding, but I love to see what people (both real couples and the ones giving out the inspiration) come up with.

All photos and more info about the shoot can be found here. Photography courtesy of Dana Grant Photography.

(I don't know why the photos aren't lining up. Silly Blogger!)

Real Wedding: A Little Doctor Who

As of late I've been (more than) a little obsessed with the brilliant BBC sci-fi show, Doctor Who. I got sucked in during my winter break from school and haven't stopped watching since. I am simultaneously watching the the whole show from the beginning (the relaunch mostly, with some original Doctor episodes here and there) while also catching up on the current Doctor's (the handsome Matt Smith) series' so I'm ready when it comes back in March. The show is about a time traveling humanoid alien Time Lord who is the last of his kind. He travels through time in space in the Tardis and picks up companions as he goes, while saving the past, present and future world (plus some other worlds as well)! I know it seems wild, but the only thing you really need to know is that is an amazing show, and I never thought a sic-fi dramedy about a time traveling alien man would make me feel so many feelings. But it has, and I am a blossoming Whovian!

Anyway, Amy sent me a link to this Doctor Who inspired wedding from Green Wedding Shoes and I am so in love with it! There are so many awesome Doctor Who touches. Each of the 11 tables at the reception featured one of the 11 regenerations of The Doctor. The groom's outfit has touches of symbolic articles worn by The Doctor (suspenders, Converse, etc...). The person that married them is wearing an outfit similar to that donned by the 4th Doctor AND the ceremony had different touches of the Tardis. The cake referenced this episode, which WILL make you cry FYI. Not to mention the other magnificent detail...her dress, the color palette, the locations, glitter! 

How gorgeous?! I could just look at this wedding over and over again, and I have. I love how this couple brought something that they both love and added so many personal touches to their own wedding.

All of these photographs, plus more, can be found at Green Wedding Shoes via Candace Benjamin Photography.

The Great Photographer Search

As we near the one year mark before the big day, I'm realizing that there are already a lot of decisions I need to start making right off the bat. Among those is choosing a photographer. I want to choose one fairly soon, as Joe and I would like to avoid doing our engagement pictures in the sweltering heat of summer. As with many things during this whole process I am discovering that there are many more options out there than I ever knew about. I am finding that the wedding photography (and just photography in general) industry is exploding these days! With this comes the need to do some real looking around at photographer websites, blogs and online portfolios. It seems that with the never-ending choices in photographers, there are a lot that are simply people with nice cameras that think they can take pictures and make a business out of it. That isn't to knock these people, but our photos are definitely one of the things I'm not willing to settle on. That said, it is also not within our budget to completely go all out crazy with an expensive photographer, even if I may have been obsessively checking out certain photographers blogs for years (I'm looking at you Bobbi + Mike).

However, I have found some great photographers that I really love and hope to be able to have one of them shoot our engagement photos and our wedding! I'm really impressed with the amount of talented people there are in the Fort Wayne area. We definitely have no shortage of options. These are a few of my favorites:

Morgan Ruth Photography

               
I've actually known Morgan since we were in high school. She was a couple of years ahead of me, and I remember even back then how talented she was. I've kept an eye on her work through high school and college, and when she started her photography business I knew that whenever I were to get engaged she would be one to put on my list. She actually messaged me just a few days after Joe and I got engaged to congratulate me and offer her pricing guide. I really like her style and she is pretty affordable. She is also someone that I think I would be more comfortable with since I do know her.

Della Tera Photo

I think Amy introduced me to Della Terra Photo. I really love the softness of her photographs, not to mention the website is ridiculously whimsy. While I do not know the photographer, Tarah personally, she seems so nice and fun from what I've seen through Della Terra Facebook posts and her website. A really cool thing that she does is donate 10% of each wedding package booked to a charity of the bride and groom's choice in their name.

Colagrossi Studio

Colagrassi Studio is another photography studio Amy shared with me. It is comprised of the soon-to-be husband and wife team of Mitch and Destany. I emailed a little with Destany a few months ago when I initially began narrowing down my list of potential photographers to get their pricing and was happily surprised with how nice and helpful she was as I was not even a client or booking with them yet. I feel like their photography captures all of the emotions the couple is feeling and has a nice mix of journalistic, natural shots, and beautiful posed ones. In conjunction with Della Terra Photo, they also have a combined photography and videography studio called Sparrow Studios.

Catie's Captures

I first heard of Catie's Captures at the very first bridal show I went to back in November. I was really drawn in by her booth setup and her packaging. Her photos are really natural and bring out the real side of the couples she photographs. I like how she doesn't stay to one specific style of pictures and experiments with different lighting. She is also super reasonable, and I am drawn to her kindness and desire to give the couples she is shooting her absolute best for their big day.

Stevenson Photography

Stevenson Photography is made up of husband and wife team Jennifer and Kyle. Like Catie's Captures I came across them at a bridal show last year. I was really impressed with their different packages and the products they offer with their packages. They even have a Crazy Booth, which is basically like a photo booth without the awkwardly small booth to stuff into and tons of quirky props! I'm in love with that idea! I really like that they use a variety of locations to shoot both engagement sessions and wedding portraits.

There are a couple of other photographers that I may contact, but thus far these top my list. Now I just need to find a way to narrow it down to the one for us! Anyone who knows me knows that I am THE WORST at making decisions, so narrowing down a photographer, along with many of the other definitive decisions I will be making soon, will be extremely interesting.