Cindy & Victor - June 19th, 2010

[ThePhotoBride]

Now that I've booked our venue, I can officially claim June 19th, 2010 as our wedding date! So I am basically going to make this my planning journal from here on out. :) We decided it would be smarter to have our wedding here in NC ("work smarter, not harder"). California's cool and all, but not only is it pricey, it's 3000 miles away! I was finding out rather quickly that it would be a logistical nightmare to plan a wedding from that far away, especially since I am not interested in hiring a planner (I'm all about the DIY and cutting costs, lol). I'll start with a few cell phone pics of our venue, which we just booked on Saturday!

The venue itself is meant as a type of community center for a golf course community near where I live. It has a ballroom, a bar, and a small restaurant will be opened in the rear of the building sometime before our wedding. It is a fairly new building and they're actually putting in the 9th hole across from the man-made lake that sits off the front of the building. We will be having our ceremony outside on the lawn. I was very impressed with the price for what you get - a beautiful venue, two dressing rooms, use of the lawn, the Taps Room (bar), ballroom, and outside decks (it has a huge wraparound type porch). Use of the building for 5 hours, although if you go beyond that 5 hours, the only thing you have to charge extra for is the bar (if you choose to keep the bar open). The hospitality director is wonderful. Within the first five minutes of us showing up for our meeting, he had already answered a bunch of questions we were going to ask, lol. He said we can pretty much decorate the place however we want as long as we don't damage the building. As long as there is no other event going on the night prior to the wedding, we can go in and decorate. We also get free reign to decorate all day before the wedding. They provide 200 white folding chairs, and all of the tables, including buffet/head tables, a cake table, and even a table for the DJ should we need it. The director sets up all of the tables and chairs for us. I get to set up the ceremony exactly how I want it to be (as far as where the altar will be, how the chairs will be placed, etc). The second I asked the director if he could recommend an officiant, he hopped on the phone and got the info for someone he knows. I was so impressed! I guess that's why he's the hospitality director, haha. It's like night and day compared to the lady in CA I was dealing with!

We had been considering going ULTRA cheap and using a pretty log-cabin type lodge overlooking the water on the military base here. It would have been $125 to rent that place all day. But it was going to be a difficult space to use for the wedding, so we decided not to be so completely cheap when it came to the venue. We're spending $1250 for the place we chose. There's a $2000 food & beverage minimum, but my parents have graciously offered to pay for the catering to help us out, especially since most of the guests will be my side of the family and all of my mom's friends, lol. I don't know if we necessarily got a "steal" on our venue, as $1250 is still a good chunk of money, but I think it is a worth it considering the professionalism and flexibility our venue offers. So, with that said, if there are any Eastern NC brides looking for a venue and want the info to ours, just PM me and I will be glad to pass it on to you. I am already unbelievably pleased with them!

Now on to the photos... :)

Here is the entry/lobby type area to the venue. It can be used as a Plan B ceremony area should there be inclement weather the day of the wedding:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2hdwnzd.jpg

This is just another view of the same area:
http://i41.tinypic.com/5wavpd.jpg

This is a view of the ballroom from the lobby area:
http://i43.tinypic.com/347k669.jpg

And the ballroom:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2u41n4k.jpg

I have to go back this week, and when I do I'm going to take my Nikon and get some better shots of the whole place. I'm so excited!

[f77g4]

Congrats on booking a venue....good luck with the rest of your planning.

Planning a wedding from a distance can be a pain. I'm planning one only about 100 kms away I couldn't imagine 3000 miles!

Good luck with everything.

[Mrs.Goff]

Congrats on the venue it looks lovely. Can't wait to see what else you have planned.

[Docsgirl]

Looks great! :D

[ThePhotoBride]

Today was an absolutely exhausting day. My mom, 2 sisters and I made the three hour drive to Raleigh for a day of dress shopping. I was looking forward to it, hopeful I'd find "the" dress so my search could be over. But no. That did not happen.

Our first stop was the Bridal Gallery at MacGregor Village in Cary, NC. It is a large store with a decent selection of gowns. It is a nice shop with high ceilings. One thing I noticed, though, was how silent it was. They didn't even have soft music playing or anything. The dresses are not all in plastic bags, which I was happy about. We were greeted by a quiet woman, who offered no help and quickly walked away. So...whatever...we started browsing the gowns. For the number of gowns they had, I was disappointed by the lack of variety. :( The more dress shops I visit in NC, the more I'm realizing that in this market, classic a-lines silhouettes are THE WEDDING DRESS OF THE LAND, which is great for the traditional brides. I'm not knocking on them by any means. But what about those of us looking for contemporary, unconventional styles? Couldn't you at least throw us a bone and humor us with alternative silhouettes? The closest I saw to a mermaid silhouette were the modified a-line gowns. And why were 95% of those made of lace? I keep getting the excuse that mermaids are usually sought after but not typically chosen by brides; that they are uncomfortable and hard to sit in. Okay, I can live with that. Can you throw me a fit 'n flare silhouette, then? Maybe a trumpet style gown? Where are those at? Anyway, I decided to give the a-line gowns a go. Some of them were made of lovely fabrics and had pretty beadwork and crystals, so I thought I might as well try them on since I was there. I chose about three gowns, and the lady takes the dresses to a fitting room without giving me any direction as to how their store operates. Every store is different - do you come in the fitting room with me? Can my mom and sisters come in to help me into the dress? The lady put the gowns in the room and disappeared. I think there were two women working, and apparently they were both helping the only other bride in the store at the time. Okay...whatever...I can deal with it, although I admit the poor customer service was not setting me up for a pleasant experience in their store. I tried on the gowns, not pleased with any of them. By the time I tried on the third gown, the lady finally comes up to me while I'm standing in front of the mirror and simply asks "do you like this one?" Eh, not really. I proceed to explain to her what I liked about the gown, and what I didn't, and what I was looking for (although she never asked me anything about my wedding, my style preferences...nothing). All I said was that I preferred a dropped waist, and off she went. She didn't stick around long enough for me to tell her that I did not like rouching (sp?) or taffeta. She comes back with a hideous dress. I return to the fitting room to put my clothes back on, and as I come back out, I notice she's pulled another dress for me, but she's nowhere to be seen. It was made of taffeta and had rouching, so I didn't even bother. We pretty much said "thanks" and walked out.

That was awful experience numero uno.

So then we were off to the Bridal Boutique of Raleigh, which was a sister store to the first hellish one we visited. It was a smaller store that seemed to carry primarily Maggie Sottero, but also offered a limited selection of other designers. It was not as "nice" as the first store, but the staff was much more pleasant and helpful! I'm not going to dig on this store too much. If my (very reasonable) customer service expectations are met, that makes me a happy bride. The girl asked me what I was looking for and promptly showed me a few of the styles that were similar to what I described, and then put a gown in the dressing room for me. She was very helpful and attentive, and I appreciated that. I did not see many gowns that interested me. Many were made of taffeta and had rouching, and they did not have the fitted styles I prefer. I tried on Maggie's "Jocelyn." Loved the bodice of the gown, didn't love the pick-up skirt so much. The dressing rooms were very shoddy :( There was a short curtain that only fell to about knee length. Obviously I didn't find much at this store, but the staff was pleasant enough, so kudos to them for that.

On to store #3, Victorian Rose Bridals. I had researched all of these places beforehand, so I knew this place carried gowns that were out of my price range. I also knew that it was the type of place that preferred you make an appointment. When we got there, it was kind of crowded, particularly for being Friday and lunch time. They had a nice selection of gowns ranging from about $1200-$3500. I appreciated the variety and number of gowns they had, but it disappointed me when I found a lovely gown that I would have loved to try on, only to check the tag and see that it was over $2k. Not in my price range. *sigh* After my first two experiences at the other stores, this was not helping my mood. Oh well. The consultant came up to us after we'd been in the store for awhile. No worries, they were busy. But then she kinda proceeded to talk down to me, asking if I "just wanted to look around" as if I certainly shouldn't have expected to be able to try any on without an appointment. I mean, my goodness, what was I thinking?! *eye roll* I mentioned that I'd come from three hours away, and she kind of looked at me like "so?" It's funny. I live in a very small area of NC. The consultant came up and asked me where my wedding will be. When I told her, she gave me this glazed-over, blank "ohhhh, ok." So I just turned around and kept browsing through the dresses. I don't know, something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I get that working essentially as a sales associate isn't a fun job, and you get treated badly a lot of the time, and that it's usually unwarranted. I understand that it sucks sometimes. But I'm not there to buy a bottle of soda, or a pair of jeans...I'm there with the intent to throw down a thousand bucks or more on a wedding gown. I do expect some patience and courtesy and maybe a little bit of understanding that I don't live in the area and have to consolidate all of my Raleigh dress shopping into one day. Urgh.

The next store actually wasn't all that bad - Diamond's Bridal. It's in a small strip mall, not very appealing on the outside, so it was kind of surprising when we walked in and it was a decent little place! The selection was not overwhelming, but decent. I tried on three or four gowns, two of which were Maggie. I liked some of the elements of the Mona Lisa Royale, but it just wasn't totally me. The consultant was not "omg friendly," but she did her job. I would actually recommend this place...

Next, we went only a few miles up the road (if that) to A Bridal World. It's connected to a thrift shop. It didn't smell good. I just wasn't impressed. If you're looking for the "bridal experience" when you shop for your gown, don't go here. Although the gowns are budget-friendly, I wouldn't even recommend it to brides in need of an inexpensive alternative. I would still recommend looking elsewhere. :/ We were only here for a few minutes before we left. I'm trying not to be a snob...because maybe this place would be okay for some people, but it just wasn't for me.

That was supposed to be our last stop. After eating lunch, we were on the hunt for a party supply store...my mom needed to find one. In doing so, we stumbled upon Savvi Formal Wear. My mom was exhausted by this point, so I ran in by myself to take a quick look. The consultant was nice and down to earth. This store was half bridal, half tux sales and rental. I think the poor consultant was the only one working, and she had to split herself between me and a couple of high school boys in need of tuxes for the prom. I didn't mind. I browsed the gowns myself and waited until she had a moment to help me. The selection was pretty limited. The store was clean and had a classy feel. I tried on three gowns here and found one I liked. It was the first true mermaid I tried on. It was very sexy and made me feel good that I could fit into a size 6 mermaid gown. It didn't have a whole lot of embroidery and the beadwork wasn't impressive, but the silhouette was just unbelievable.

http://i44.tinypic.com/2cem2pe.jpg

As much as I loved the silhouette, the fabric and the lack of detail on the gown was kind of a disappointment. That first Jasmine Couture dress I tried on really set the bar when it came to quality and detail.

...cont'd on next post...

[ThePhotoBride]

Finally, we made one last stop. Maggi Bridal. It was maybe a block from Savvi Formalwear. They closed at 6, but we walked in at 5:30. Immediately I was very unimpressed with the store. An older woman was sitting at a desk far away from the front door. I instantly noticed the 80's style gowns hanging on the rack on the right side of the store. The woman didn't say anything to us when we first walked in, so we kind of made our way over to the gowns to take a look. She walks up and the first thing that comes out of her mouth is "I am closing soon." :huh: Okaaaay. I had half an hour, and frankly I wanted to check out the selection. I wasn't expecting it to be a fabulous shop...it was basically a final stop before we called it quits for the day. My expectations were low, and I was tired. She acted like she didn't want me to even look at the gowns. She asked me when my wedding is and then proceeded to tell me that I still had a lot of time. She tried to hand me an Alfred Angelo catalogue. I already had one, so I declined. She mentioned again that she would be closing soon, so there would be no time to try anything on. My mom and I gave each other "that look." I asked the woman if I could just take a look at the gowns, to which she hesitantly agreed. WOW, I was annoyed. I turned to my mom and said "let's just go." I said "thanks" (but my tone was saying something else entirely) and we left.

So that was my ridiculous dress shopping experience for the day. And you know what? At the end of it all, I've realized that it's the Jasmine dress I've loved from the start, and it's the Jasmine dress I need to get. So I am now on a mission to find that dress somewhere in VA or NC. At least now I know what I want.

For the record, NC brides...if you insist on visiting any of the shops in Raleigh, I recommend Bridal Boutique of Raleigh (especially if you're into Maggie Sottero), Diamond's Bridal, and Savvi Formalwear...if for nothing other than their customer service. If you can afford a little bit more, make an appointment with Victorian Rose Bridals. Stay away from the Bridal Gallery at MacGregor Village in Cary, A Bridal World, and Maggi Bridal. Definitely do not go anywhere near Maggi Bridal.

I've heard good things about Bridal Mart in Burlington, NC, but I've never been.

So now my search is on for Jasmine Couture T192!!!

[Mrs.Goff]

DH and I were watching "Say yes to the Dress" tonight and that sparked a conversation about bridal salons. I didn't have the best of luck with our local salons. There were pushy consultants, rude consultants, lazy consultants and so on. haha I had one tell me at least 20 times that I HAD to have sleeves because I'm plus size and have big arms. I finally told her that DH had seen my arms and still wanted to marry be so I didn't care if my arms showed.

As for your dress I looked to see if I could find one near you and couldn't. :( I hope you find it and I hope it's all that you want it to be. Good luck, I can't wait to see pictures.

[ThePhotoBride]

DH and I were watching "Say yes to the Dress" tonight and that sparked a conversation about bridal salons. I didn't have the best of luck with our local salons. There were pushy consultants, rude consultants, lazy consultants and so on. haha I had one tell me at least 20 times that I HAD to have sleeves because I'm plus size and have big arms. I finally told her that DH had seen my arms and still wanted to marry be so I didn't care if my arms showed.

As for your dress I looked to see if I could find one near you and couldn't. :( I hope you find it and I hope it's all that you want it to be. Good luck, I can't wait to see pictures.

I can't believe a consultant would try to tell you what you should be wearing. If they are true "fashion" consultants and can make subtle suggestions about what looks flattering on your body and skin tone, GREAT! But they need only say it once. Ultimately you're the one that has to feel beautiful in your gown, and you're the only person who can determine that! I'm glad you stood your ground and got a sleeveless!

You know, I'm not usually a huge stickler for customer service at regular retail stores and fast food places and whatnot. Those jobs really suck, so I can handle a less than enthused cashier from time to time. I get it, they don't like what they do...I've been there, I understand. But a bridal consultant should have better customer service sense than the 16 year old at the McDonald's drive thru. These are big ticket purchases and I think the customer service should reflect that. That's just my feeling on it. I don't even ask for much. I don't want to be doted on. Just acknowledge my presence and be there to help me out when I'm ready to try on a dress. That's really all I ask. Anything beyond that is extra and only makes the experience even better. I'm quickly realizing that the customer service is going to determine where I purchase my gown. If I don't like how you treat me, it doesn't matter if you have the gown I love. I'll take my thousand bucks elsewhere, lol.

As for the Jasmine dress...I'm going to call around to the stores in Virginia that carry Jasmine Couture to find out whether they have that particular gown. It seems like most of the stores only carry the regular Jasmine Collection. But it's okay, I'll figure it out. I'll get my dress. :)

[f77g4]

Sorry to hear about your disappointing dress shopping adventure. Even though there was a dress out of your price range that you liked, too bad you couldn't have tired it on and then found it online for cheaper.

Good luck on the hunt for the Jasmine Couture!

[Chubear]

Maybe you could get your dream dress made?

[ThePhotoBride]

I went to a local shop that carries Jasmine (but not Jasmine Couture) and told them about the dress. The owner is calling the manufacturer on Tuesday to see if they will send him the dress on loan so I can try it on again. All I have to do is pay the shipping fees - which I actually won't lose, because they will use it toward the purchase of the dress.

I am going to post more photos of my venue in a little bit. :)

[f77g4]

That's so exciting!!! Good luck! I hope they can get it.

[ThePhotoBride]

Ok, so I finally got around to resizing these so I could post them here. This is our venue!

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/91/l_2629bac87ca5491482cef1cbcbbce5a8.jpg


One of my favorite features is this pretty walkway on the side of the building!

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/93/l_5915e480784d43b8808da8403ab60e0a.jpg

The ballroom where the reception will take place:

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/87/l_450f1eb08166424db8cd81477deb9de8.jpg

Front entry area. This will be the plan B ceremony area in case of bad weather. The double doors to the right lead into the Taps Room (bar).

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/75/l_f745a17f699c4a08a64c3007eccc31a9.jpg

The doorway I will come out of to make my walk down the aisle!!

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/81/l_9c303ce787934474883462e6479e1efe.jpg

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/80/l_868f038cf89b468dbe13e4ce4664e997.jpg

The front lawn where the ceremony will take place, minus the trucks and construction, lol. (They're putting in a golf course)

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/93/l_58865bae517047ae974054e31cd9f28d.jpg

Covered driveway up to the front door, really nice looking IMO.

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/84/l_6850480c6804410aa011b0ed790a4f34.jpg

[f77g4]

Beautiful venue!

[ThePhotoBride]

Today I met with and booked our photographer! He is young and creative and I think his style matches ours very well. Here's his site: http://www.keithketchum.com

I'm excited to have that done. That was one of my hardest decisions as I am a wedding photographer myself (and hubby is a combat photographer), so we're incredibly picky. I think this guy will do a great job though. And it seems like he's going to be so easy to work with!!

[ThePhotoBride]

Today I purchased my dress! I was able to try it on again, just to be sure, and yep...I still loved it as much as the first time I tried it on! This sample was in slate, but I'm ordering my gown in ivory. I'm also having them change the back neckline of the dress to be a bit more dramatic (it will come down in a slight V-shape rather than cut straight across). I'm really excited...

http://i41.tinypic.com/2yuhyyw.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2uzt355.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/2q310f7.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/oiu4v4.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/243njg6.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2qu5daw.jpg

[f77g4]

Thats a gorgeous dress! Congrats on the purchase!

[NOTKT]

That dress looks amazing on you! Great pick! Congrats on picking a date, that's my birthday!

[Mrs.Goff]

That dress is amazing and it photographs beautifully. Congrats on finding "The one"!

[ThePhotoBride]

Thank you ladies! Hubby called from Iraq just as I was leaving the bridal salon and I gushed about how I'd just bought the dress. He was laughing at me.

I have to say, my experience with The Intimate Bridal in New Bern, NC was a breeze compared to the craziness in Raleigh! I went into The Intimate last Saturday. They don't actually carry Jasmine Couture, but they do carry the regular Jasmine line. By the following Wednesday the sample was being shipped to their store so I could try it on. It actually came in on Friday, and I was able to go in and try it on today! I went in, took some photos, the nice/helpful consultant took my measurements and discussed some veil and alterations options with me. I asked about a military discount - yes, 10% (consultant was also a Marine wife, yay!). So I paid 50% today, and will have to pay the rest when the dress comes in.

I'm very pleased and would recommend them in an instant!