we have no money.

it looks like right now, the plans for an engagement party are not going to be a go.

i looked into a few places, like the Hillside Bowl for a bowling party, or restaurants, such as Papaspiros (my favorite Oak Park Greek restaurant!) and most places are charging $20 per person for a party/dinner/etc... the guest/invite list I came up with was between 40-50 people (bridal party & their families, plus our families, aunts, uncles, etc...) - that means $800 - $1000 for a party, which we simply do not have, especially when we're trying to plan the darn wedding (and boy, is it NOT cheap!)!!!

...and since we don't have a house to have the party at, simply getting some catering is out of the question - we need a location and food, and preferably something fun to do, which is why the Hillside Bowl would've been a great place (bowling, pool tables, etc)...

Todd and I talked to Greg and Lisa, and they didn't have an engagement party, so it's not a necessity... just something we thought would've been fun.  but in case anyone was wondering what was up with that, Todd and I talked and we sadly agreed that it isn't the most fiscally responsible thing to do, considering all other plans and things going on.

if only this damn condo would sell so we could focus on that!!! 

:)

dresses and tuxes.

yesterday i put a deposit down on a wedding gown, which is actually a BALL GOWN, according to the lady at the bridal shop.  wish i had known this several days ago when i called a gazillion bridal places looking for a red wedding gown.  ...freakin' technicalities... !!!

but anyways, i DID find a red gown, which was my goal.  unfortunately, i cannot describe it here, because the dress is going to be a surprise!  the good news is that the woman (Camille Francia of Francia Bridal in Hinsdale) does her own alterations and is very confident that anything that I do not like about the dress (if anything) can be repaired/altered/fixed by her, and has even made a few suggestions already, so i am very excited about the final result...  and you will have to wait!

p.s. we did buy a veil to go with the dress, which is cool because we even found a way to coordinate a veil with a red gown.  very nice.

p.p.s. i did select the bridesmaids dresses and shoes (Flamingo or Riviera in black), so bridesmaids can go and get fitted and order their stuff as soon as they'd like to.  as soon as i find a link to a photo, i'll post it here.

part 2 - tuxedoes!

we stopped by Men's Wearhouse Tux today in the Oakbrook Mall, and the lady there was so nice and told us a bunch about tux rentals.  this isn't something that needs to be done until 3-4 months before the wedding, but it's nice to know ahead of time.  we're mulling over some sweet red/black/white combos at the moment...

save the date!

a red wedding dress...

I've decided that what I REALLY want is a red wedding gown. Originally, I figured I'd just have to buy a "bridesmaid's" dress in red and use that. But then Jeri pointed out that there ARE actually red wedding gowns, which in fact are a lot nicer and more traditional in the style of a "wedding gown" than a bridesmaid's dress would be, like these here.

These dresses are made by a UK company called Hollywood Dreams. Yeah, it's a terrible cheesy name for a wedding gown producer, but the dresses are fantastic. My favorite one is the first one pictured here, which is called Amara. The problem is that only two bridal stores in the US carry this line: one in California, and one in Virginia.

Lisa and I have both been calling around everywhere, from big obvious David's Bridal to the lesser-known little bridal boutiques, and we've gotten very little information regarding red wedding gowns - mostly I just got "no" answers when I inquired about them. One bridal shop I called was particularly helpful, Francia Bridal in Hinsdale, (unimpressive website but great customer service over the phone) whose employee said that the owner would try to help me out as much as she could, such as trying to order a dress from wherever we needed to, etc etc etc...

...there are other red dress makers out there, but they are very few and far between, and many of the dresses are, um, not exactly my style. Maggie Sottero makes a few, some of which are quite lovely, but not designs that immediately catch my attention (the Lana dress is a runner-up from the Hollywood Dreams dress). Otherwise, I can only find 1-2 designs by other makers, and they're usually UK brands or otherwise ugly as heck... you know, too much seqins and decoration on a long mermaid-y dress... ick.

So... Mom said we could try some white dresses that are the style of the red ones just to make sure that I like the dress style (a corset-style top with a long, full ballgown skirt and a chapel train in back) before we go any further. I'm hoping to find some time soon... maybe later today?

1-Year Countdown...

So... there's about one year to go before the wedding, and we're just starting to get things together before then. I thought I'd make this wedding blog/website/update site to let people know what's going on, and what we have planned so far. Feel free to share your opinions/suggestions, and we make no promise to listen to any of them - ha ha!

Yesterday we booked our photographer - Modern Image Studios - and we've already got the place and the DJs, too (see links on the right). Soon to come is save-the-date cards, wedding dress shopping, and a potential engagement party???