that is awesome! i love that everyone got into it because that is the type of thing you can't half ass

i am amazed at all the bridal mart hate, my dress is not poofy nor does it have sequins or lace. and my bridesmaids dresses are amazing. can't post a picture of my dress for another month or so, but here are the girls' dresses by Watters (wtoo)



and my mom's dress (also by wtoo), hers is actually a bridesmaids dress but my mom is very petite and it looks sooo good on her. covers enough without looking old and matronly like a lot of mob dresses



and that is my last bridal mart comment its not like i work there or anything! i am just very pleased with all the great dresses we found for cheap

[Edited on July 23, 2009 at 2:13 PM. Reason : .]

7/23/2009 2:12:41 PM

Anyone here used Artspace before?

8/2/2009 7:08:45 PM

http://www.mybelovedhomewood.com

I think we finally settled on a place... Homewood in Asheville


good thing I liked it because once my fiancee (a HS English teacher) found out that F.Scott Fitzgerald spent time with his wife there, she was sold

[Edited on August 3, 2009 at 8:46 PM. Reason : .]

8/3/2009 8:42:01 PM

we were thinking about homewood but decided on the grove park instead. asheville is a great place to have a wedding

8/3/2009 11:14:39 PM

Have any of you heard of this before? I've been to two weddings recently that has done this and it's awesome! It's kind of a combo of the bouquet toss and the Southern charm pull thing.

Basically, each flower in the bouquet has a ribbon tied to its stem. Also on this ribbon is a charm. Each charm has a different meaning. The flowers are arranged so the charms are hidden from view and the ribbons are flowing from the base of the bouquet.

When it comes time to do the bouquet pull, the pins holding it in place are removed. The bride holds onto the bouquet and each guest chooses a ribbon from the base. On the count of three, everyone begins pulling as the bride loosens her grip. Each guest then ends up with a flower and her charm.



Here they are waiting to pull! I thought I had taken a picture of the charm I got but apparently not. I got the engagement ring one haha.

Some more pics I found online.





The thing I wonder though is how much of a pain in the butt would this be to create. Do you think you could just buy the charms and tell a florist what you want and they could do their magic?

8/4/2009 4:41:24 AM

ncsukat & moparnum5 wedding is done!!!!!!!! Everyone had a great time (except my mother... ), so I would say that overall it was a success. Rain held off just long enough for the ceremony and a few pictures... then we got to run for cover



[Edited on August 4, 2009 at 10:04 AM. Reason : picture fail... will try again later]

8/4/2009 9:42:24 AM

Red X's

8/4/2009 9:50:47 AM

has anybody got a flush mount album? they're serious $$$ so I'm just trying to decide if it's worth it

8/6/2009 9:31:57 AM

Ben's friends got one. It looks very professional and the picture quality was great, but there wasn't enough variety in the pictures. That was either the photographer's fault or the couple's fault for picking a bunch of pictures that looked the same. Most of the pics were of the two of them kissing. I know it's their wedding, but don't you want to remember things that you can't recreate every day? only thing is i felt like it looked very much like a year book.

8/11/2009 5:38:12 AM

Does anybody know anything about where to apply for a marriage license? We're getting married in SC, but he and I will be living in Raleigh after we get married, so I'm not sure if we get one in NC or SC. I've been on the register of deeds website, but the text is a little confusing.

8/11/2009 1:33:51 PM

In NC, you have to have a marriage license issued in NC to get married in NC. Since you are getting married in SC, you need to look at SC law which by this website appears to be the same. So you need an SC license.

http://www.sciway.net/facts/marriagelicense.html

8/11/2009 1:47:26 PM

Ladies, out of curiosity, what was the price of your wedding album??

8/12/2009 1:50:09 PM

didn't get one...bought the rights instead and will make my own

8/12/2009 1:51:01 PM

I'm going to be married in like 1.5 months, holy shit.

8/12/2009 4:26:52 PM

^^ We're going to do the same.

8/12/2009 9:41:51 PM

Quote :

"I'm going to be married in like 1.5 months, holy shit. "

You'll be saying "holy shit" afterwards. I don't know if it's because we eloped, but it was so awesome to say "my husband" and stuff like that - all very "holy shit" inducing.

8/12/2009 9:45:03 PM

ive got over a year, and i'm still freaking out a little. although this getting married on a cruise ship thing is looking more and more possible. i gotta find out all the added costs, i don't need any decor just a location. no reception, we will be on a cruise ship! i'd like the captain to do the honor, but if that costs a bunch we have a friend who is ordained.

8/12/2009 9:57:22 PM

I'm actually really excited about that already

8/12/2009 10:01:04 PM

I'm thinking of checking out the Surf City Surfside Center: http://tinyurl.com/dfymgb

It looks pretty badass for the price.

8/12/2009 10:05:18 PM

i emailed royal caribbean. i'd like to just do a simple ceremony either at one of the islands or onboard, we could just do the normal dining room for dinner and such, the onboard bars for the bachelorette/bachelor party. i don't want to have to deal with a lot of planning.

8/12/2009 10:06:12 PM

Let me tell you ladies, the difference in quality between a cheapo lab and professional lab is freaking astronomical. I would seriously consider getting prints done at one, even if they cost more. They are so worth it.

Like night and day difference.

8/13/2009 1:59:33 PM

I don't post much on here but I just got my pictures up from my wedding and I'm so thrilled with my photographer. Her name is Logan Wallace, based out of Wilmington, and I highly highly recommend her! Here is my slideshow

http://clients.loganwallacephoto.com/brown_collicutt/

8/14/2009 5:46:00 PM

beautiful!

8/14/2009 5:55:20 PM

Did anyone go to the bridal show that was at the Fairgrounds the other week? Apparently my mom went because I've been getting a bunch of emails from vendors lol.

8/23/2009 1:16:07 AM

Quote :

"Anyone here used Artspace before?"

We were really into it after seeing it online, but the biggest room is fucking TINY. Check it out for yourself, but we kept on looking.


Okay, the lady and I are getting really low on budget and are looking for an at least half-decent wedding photographer. Any recommendations? We're talking about $500 max, and I really don't even want to spend that much (but it seems that anything for a wedding costs at least twice what it otherwise ought to).

Also, how the fuck do you get a marriage license?

Also, how do you keep your head from exploding? Gah, so much stress. We were planning on doing it zero budget, the family objected and gave us money, but at this point I kind of wish we had just said "No thanks, brah, meet us at the courthouse if you want to."

8/24/2009 3:52:05 PM

The cheapest photographer I know is Ashley Lorenz, but it's $800 for two hours. I haven't found many that will go under $1000 though.

8/24/2009 4:30:23 PM

^^ just for the record, I would've followed you kids to the courthouse

and the more I see people I know get married, the more appealing that idea becomes

in any case, here's a page about getting married in Wake County:
http://web.co.wake.nc.us/rdeeds/marriage/marriage.htm

[Edited on August 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM. Reason : also, I would take pictures but I am really bad at it :/]

8/24/2009 4:36:56 PM

Quote :

"Also, how do you keep your head from exploding? Gah, so much stress."

adopt my credo: "As long as the chapel or reception hall aren't on fire, I don't care."

8/24/2009 4:47:25 PM

Wow, 15 year olds can get married in NC? didn't know that.

8/24/2009 5:10:52 PM

Quote :

"The cheapest photographer I know is Ashley Lorenz, but it's $800 for two hours. I haven't found many that will go under $1000 though."

If I'm paying $400 an hour for something, you'd better goddamn believe it's going to involve cocaine and space travel.

8/24/2009 7:39:30 PM

How important is the photography to you? I have done a TON of research on photography because to me it's probably the most important aspect of the wedding and I can tell you, you definitely get what you pay for.

One nice thing about this economy, most photographers are eager to negotiate. Every single one I have spoken with through email has already dropped their price and I have a feeling that when I meet with them in person next month they will go even lower. But still, I seriously, seriously doubt any of them will go below the $1500 mark, much less $1000.

If you honestly only have $500 to spend on photography and can't trim things here and there to afford more, you have three options:

1) Do that disposable camera crap where you put cameras on everyone's table and hope they don't spend the entire time taking pictures of their food. Also set up an account on shutterfly or flickr and print business cards to put at each seat that have the account name and password for people to upload their digital photos they take on their cameras. You can print a pack of cards for $20 at vistaprint.

2) Cajole one of the photographers in the DSLR thread over in chitchat to do you a huge favor, or make a post on craigslist or call local photography schools/courses asking if there is a photography student who would be interested in shooting your wedding for $500. I have known people to do this and they can end up with some great photos because a student wanted to beef up their portfolio. Sometimes you might even find someone who has been in the photography business for years, but they're a recent transplant to the area and are willing to do it just so they can get their name out there locally and have more local places in their portfolio. But in the same vein you could also end up with some crappy photos this way too.

3) Set up your photography as one of your registries. A lot of photographers these days offer this service where people can put money towards your photography and help offset the cost of your photos.

I honestly wish you the best of luck finding a photographer because I know for me it was serious sticker shock when I first started looking around. Initially I was of the mindset of "but they're just walking around with a camera wtf?!" but when you see the difference between a $1000 photographer and a $2000 photographer it becomes painfully obvious that there is a reason the better photographers can get away with charging so much. If you find a photographer you like that is out of your price range, don't be afraid to be candid with them and tell them your situation. I did that with one photographer and her price has already dropped from $3500 to $2500. And I haven't even had a chance to meet her in person yet.

8/24/2009 9:34:25 PM

Once again, I'm looking for a photographer that charges ever so slightly less per hour than a fucking surgeon. Ugh.

8/24/2009 9:40:24 PM

I'm telling ya, they don't exist Even crap like this is over $1000:



Let us know what you end up choosing to do. I know I'm going to have to make a photography decision in the near future and my wallet isn't looking forward to it

8/24/2009 10:03:31 PM

now i'm a bridesmaid

and the bride is having difficulty finding green or yellow bridesmaid dresses she likes. she's looked at David's Bridal and overall isn't a fan of the colors they offer or the styles. she's looked at JCrew, but that's not in the price range she's looking for.

since I was deadset on Siri from the getgo, I didn't look around that much when it came to finding BM dresses.

I've found some on After Six, Nordstrom, and Alfred Angelo that I'm sending her.
Ann Taylor/Loft doesn't haven't anything on their website.
Where else could we look?
BMs are all over, so a line or store that's pretty common would be ideal.

TIA!

9/25/2009 11:28:19 AM

what kinds of yellows and greens is she looking for? pastel? jewel tone? light? dark? bright? etc...

9/25/2009 10:02:15 PM

Tell her yellow is a horrible idea I just went to a wedding where the bridesmaids wore yellow and during the reception one of the girls comes up to me and says, "Don't you dare choose yellow for your bridesmaids dresses if you like your bridesmaids." For some reason yellow doesn't tend to be a flattering color in bridesmaids dresses.

She could try Mori Lee but personally I'm a fan of the After Six line.

9/26/2009 10:00:08 PM

green: olive, sage, etc...away from kermit greens or blue greens...not pastel

yellow: not sure.

really at this point, more names would be great just to look at

[Edited on September 27, 2009 at 4:07 PM. Reason : ]

9/27/2009 4:06:24 PM

Found out today you can have your reception on the Battleship North Carolina

9/27/2009 6:50:44 PM

My brother had his wedding yesterday, although the weather sucked, they had it set up for both inside and outside (historical mansion). It went really well, now I am the only single one. I am the baby in the family, 2 older sisters and a older brother. Overall I liked the wedding, but there would be a few things I would change. I dont think they thought about the days getting shorter when they set the date. The wedding did not even start until 7:15 and even on a sunny day it is basically dark by 7pm. If you want to have a outside wedding this time of the year you need to do it earlier. I do not think they had much of a choice though, this place seems to have weddings going on everyday. In fact, during rehearsal they were setting up a huge tent for one on Friday (by Sat it was already taken down).

I dont know who my brother used to take pics, but he was taking them all night long, everytime I looked up he was taking pics. After the wedding party had their photos, I think they took every combination you could think of (cousins, 3rd cousins etc).

One different thing is that the bridemaids did not have the wear the same outfit, just as long as they were the wedding colors. It turned out really well.

His wife's side of the family is from Trinidad and Tobago, I might try to visit that area one day.



[Edited on September 27, 2009 at 7:21 PM. Reason : w]

9/27/2009 7:15:27 PM

What is up with super late ceremonies these days? The wedding I went to last weekend the ceremony didn't begin until 6:45. Personally I plan on having the ceremony start around 5:00 so we can get to the food and booze earlier

9/27/2009 7:19:25 PM

I dont know, I think if you want a outside wedding you for sure want to have it earlier in the day. Although I am sure the photos outside with the flash would be good, it is kinda taking a risk. If it had been outside, it would of been quick and then everyone inside.

Booze, lord, talk about booze, I dont drink, but I did a lil for this (what the hell, right?) and I start to get out of the "quiet mode" when I do..(ie I will not shut up). I even asked the wedding cordinator what I should get...she asked me how drunk I wanted to get....lol....flat out drunk, or just a bit...I said just a bit. I got some sort of mixed drink and it tasted like shit so I was through with that. They had to of spent $Texas on the beer, vodka, etc...i mean it was a mini ABC store.

If I ever get married (the only time I think about it is at events like this, usually i think about it for a day or three then it is over), I might have it at the same place. If I wanted it outside I would definitely do it earlier and have a tent just in case it rains. Yeah, that adds $$$ but if you really want it outside and you can afford a nice tent, then you dont have to worry about the weather as much.

[Edited on September 27, 2009 at 7:34 PM. Reason : w]

9/27/2009 7:26:56 PM

Quote :

"One different thing is that the bridemaids did not have the wear the same outfit, just as long as they were the wedding colors."

you're a dude, but this is becoming more and more common with weddings.

late weddings dumbfound me only b/c of how tired i was after mine. it was a full day of getting ready, activities, and emotion. hell, it was a full weekend. after the wedding and reception, while adrenalized all day, i was exhausted. ours was at three, my morning started at 8am, when he & I were finally on our own it was 10:30, and we didn't arrive to our mini-moon location until midnight. if the ceremony was any later, we wouldn't have been on our way til after midnight :/

9/27/2009 8:04:57 PM

^ Yeah that's what I would think too. The one I just went to, they had an after party but it didn't START until midnight! The bride looked like she was going to pass out from exhaustion at the bar. Hell, I was about to and I wasn't even in the wedding party.

9/27/2009 8:09:36 PM

One of the best thing at my wedding was having a kids favor table. I have a ton of neices/nephews/kids with friend. On the table I had a bunch of blow up guitars and mircophones, wedding coloring books with crayons, and glow bracelets. It cost me less than $30 for everything too. Since they had so much to play with there wasnt any kiddy meltdowns until they had to get in the car to go home

9/28/2009 11:15:41 AM

wolfpackgrrr

I catered an event this summer at the Surf City Surfside Center, and I wouldn't really recommend it. It used to be a restaurant, but the main room is pretty small. The reception I was doing probably had 50 people or so, and it was getting close to feeling cramped. I am from Topsail Island, so if you give me some more details (# of people, formal, not formal, etc.) I can maybe help you out. I'll give you my name to mention, too, to any of the vendors that are local. Can't promise anything, but it's worth a shot.

Feel free to pm with Topsail Island destination wedding questions, anyone!

9/29/2009 11:10:26 PM

I went down there on Sunday to look at the place and it's actually bigger than a lot of other places we've scouted No way in hell do those round tables fit 6 people around them like they claim though lol.

I'm definitely up for suggestions! But they just have to be cheap, which is the best thing about Surfside.

9/29/2009 11:25:05 PM

Details might help lol. About 50 people and casual. We're doing a Mexican buffet for the reception

9/30/2009 1:45:08 AM

so i need a non alive wedding bouquet if i get married on a cruise ship. not a fan of fake flowers, anyone have any suggestions?

i like this one



haven't picked out a dress for sure yet. either going simple white linen or something like this







[Edited on November 19, 2009 at 7:47 PM. Reason : geez, one more try]

11/19/2009 7:44:28 PM

^I like that dress.

As far as non-floral bouquets you could try seashells?






I've also seen button bouquets in magazines, but I don't think they look quite as nice?



http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2093549/5_nonfloral_wedding_bouquets.html

[Edited on November 19, 2009 at 8:03 PM. Reason : ]

11/19/2009 7:54:55 PM

the seashells and the buttons both go with that dress very nicely!

11/19/2009 8:11:23 PM