3


^she ordered her dress as quickly as she could. there was a change in the bridesmaids.

3/18/2008 11:36:41 AM

Damn, that sucks then. Hopefully they will be able to fix it! My bridesmaid just ordered a dress last week and they told her it would only take 2-3 weeks to get in so I know that's cutting it close but it could work!

3/18/2008 3:50:27 PM

yay now i'll get to start planning!!!

4/1/2008 12:41:16 PM

CONGRATS!!!

4/1/2008 1:58:56 PM

oh we picked our cake on saturday. tried like 12 samples and went with a classic chocolate for the bottom layer, pudding chiffon (basically yellow cake with layers of raspberry and lemon) for the middle, and mint chocolate dobash for the anniversary top layer.

so the cake is 3 layers, round with rounded edges. it's going to be like a lime green color (to match the flowers) with a turquoise-ish ribbon around the bottom of each layer. we like to keep things simple.

not going to give the cake company since this is in san diego.

4/1/2008 2:34:13 PM

^That sounds delicious!!!

4/1/2008 3:18:17 PM

My fiancee and I have pretty much got everything ordered and planned out (wedding is late June).

The next (and almost last) big thing are the invitations.
We found some we liked on the david's bridal website that we will probably get...and she got a nice coupon discount from them for ordering dresses and stuff also.
If we don't go with them, does anyone have any other invitation suggestions? Someone we know suggested party city?

As for the cake, we ordered it from a lady locally in Raleigh he does it on the side. Her website is:
http://www.maryjoscakes.com/

We emailed her a couple times and then went to her house one afternoon and did some sampling and talked over what we wanted. We drew up a contract and decided to use her. I'd definitely recommend her.

4/1/2008 3:34:09 PM

^I highly recommend http://www.passionpaper.com/

4/1/2008 3:52:09 PM

so the previous posts I had were deleted with a server crash.. but...

anyone have any recommendations for wedding night hotels around the Raleigh area? we will be traveling to Florida the day after so we need a place to stay for the night either in Raleigh-ish or slightly on the way. We're paying for everything ourselves so cost is an issue... we found several in the $100 - $175 a night range that are romantic type of rooms/packages, but I wanted other people's recommendations

4/4/2008 7:38:52 PM

Attn: Ladies in the Dunn area. DO NOT GO TO: Bowties Ribbons and Lace.

A client gave the store a hugely negative review. The service was poor, they refused to let her change her size later on, and there were a few other flaws she mentioned as well that I can't remember.

She ended up looking beautiful, but it's just one more shop to avoid.

4/6/2008 9:50:40 AM

I got my dress at Carolina Bridal World in Smithfield. I went on a weekday morning and Connie, the owner helped me out alot... She was awesome! She actually picked out the dress I decided on. I ended up buying the sample I tried on because it was in perfect condition. Super impressed with them. Much better than Bridal Mart and from what I looked at cheaper too!

4/6/2008 10:25:13 PM

hotels?

4/7/2008 7:35:50 PM

Is the Umstead out of your price range?

4/7/2008 9:02:04 PM

I'm looking for like $150 for saturday night.. we also gotta pay for several other nights and several other things on the honeymoon, so anything over $150 is probably not real smart for us

4/8/2008 12:23:56 AM

Hotels: velvet cloak seems nice, and there's another one next to it that seems okay, Raleigh has a serious shortage of nice hotels.

4/9/2008 8:56:40 AM

We're doing the embassy suites for the honeymoon night i think. We wanted a "honeymoon suite" and this was the only place i could think of!

4/9/2008 11:43:55 AM

We just stayed a Hampton Inn. Seriously, it doesn't matter, as long is it is decently nice, you are going to get there, get busy, and fall asleep you will be so exhausted. Then when you wake up, it will be time to check out.

4/9/2008 1:28:25 PM

Somebody tell me what you think of 18th Floor Balcony by Blue October for a first dance song.

PM's appreciated so I can stay out of this girly thread

4/9/2008 1:40:23 PM

We are getting married at 430 on a saturday...
we have to be at the airport at 430AM the next morning...so we are just staying at our place... don't wanna waste money on a hotel when we will only be there about 5-6 hours.

4/9/2008 3:24:01 PM

Please don't go to the Velvet Cloaks honeymoon room unless you are into 70 porno style.

Place is like a dungeon- under the bar, so its loud, no windows, mirrors all over the place, horrible green carpet, dingy old furniture, and the jacuzzi tub's drain is broken. The place has SO MUCH POTENTIAL but they refuse to do anything about it. It is convenient, so if anyone is looking there, ask for 212 or the Queen Suite (depending on your budget). They have been redone so are less.. old and gross.

4/9/2008 10:59:58 PM

I stayed at the Velvet Cloak a few years ago and unless they have done some MAJOR remodeling and firing/re-hiring of staff, it was a total mess.

My mom was sitting on the made bed watching TV when we first checked into our room. After about 10 minutes, she felt something WET and pulled back the covers and there was a huge wet spot. It was urine. The manager was a total idiot and acted like it wasn't a big deal at all and moved us to another crappy room.

4/10/2008 9:50:45 AM

I'm going to vegas after my wedding.

4/10/2008 4:18:47 PM

Oh, and I've noticed that they usually bring too much cake to the table. It's easy to overestimate how much cake you need for a certain number of guests, but I've seen that a pizza-sized cake can feed over 200 people if you cut the slices small enough. If it's lower in sugar, people usually do come back for more than one slice so you can plan for more. I just have trouble with really sugary cake, if I have too much I get sick to my stomach. I don't eat cake unless invited by the bride herself, but I was just thinking about what happened at church the other day. The lady baked this insanely sugary raspberry cake and after one bite I put it down for ten minutes before the next bite.

4/13/2008 1:58:42 AM

I need some rehearsal dinner places in Cary.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

I'm guessing about 50 people

5/6/2008 11:43:29 AM

I hope everyone's planning is going well. I want to know how you picked your song for going down the aisle?!!

Incidentally I am selling 2 wedding dresses. I have put the first one up, if anyone wants a good deal on brand new with tag dresses. One is a 10 (street size 6-8) and one is an 18 (street size 12-14). Let me know if you are interested in looking.

I am willing to barter for wedding services. Things of interest include a poker themed groom's cake, photos, cake serving plates, square and or round mirrors, hair and makeup on the day with a trial and other interesting trades

[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 2:42 PM. Reason : ]

5/17/2008 2:28:39 PM

^^ What is your budget? I was thinking that Rio would be really neat for a rehearsal dinner, because there would be no wait for your food and I think they have a private room. The Brazilian steakhouse in Cary.

http://www.riosteakhouse.com/

[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 2:31 PM. Reason : ]

5/17/2008 2:29:38 PM

^^^for rehearsal dinners in cary, i pretty much called all of them when i was planning for my wedding (we just got married last weekend, yay)

the cheapest for a group of 30ppl was jimmy v's steakhouse, which is in macgregor village i think. it was going to cost roughly $30/pp for a sit-down dinner (choice of chicken or steak), and it didn't include dessert or alcohol. in addition to the $30/pp you still had to pay tax and mandatory 18% tip. that still balanced out cheaper than most every other place in cary, and believe me, i called pretty much all of them

5/17/2008 3:28:06 PM

Rio is 29/person not including drinks or dessert (you won't need dessert though) or tip. We went there for my graduation/birthday dinner last weekend and everyone liked it. We had reserved the private room, but they kicked us out for a bigger party so beware about that. The made up for it with free dessert for 13 people though.

5/17/2008 4:50:01 PM

I think it would be cool to rent a big beach house for the reception and have the caterer you hire work out of the kitchen. You could set stuff up on the patio/beach. Then when everyone is plastered they can just stumble upstairs to a room. I imagine a setup like that wouldn't be much different in price from renting a reception hall and you have the added bonus of people not driving drunk from the reception.

One nice place for a rehearsal dinner is Irregardless Cafe. A little pricey but I don't think it really costs much more than other nicer restaurants in the area.

[Edited on May 18, 2008 at 5:56 AM. Reason : .]

5/18/2008 5:51:17 AM

thumper, did you look at Lucky 32? They seemed reasonably priced...we ate there this weekend and it was pretty good.

Quote :

"I want to know how you picked your song for going down the aisle?!! "

I had just become a fan of Patty Griffin, and I was listening to some of her music and one of her songs is called "Heavenly Day." I heard that and I thought it would be a nice song for a wedding. That very night, it was in the episode of Smallville where Luther and Lana get married! So that's what I'm walking down the aisle to. A friend of mine is playing/singing it.

you can listen to it on her myspace http://www.myspace.com/pattygriffin

[Edited on May 18, 2008 at 5:01 PM. Reason : s]

5/18/2008 4:59:04 PM

Reception at the Second Empire - marvellous experience. It's a feast for the eyes, the food is fantastic, the service is so amazing... it's somewhere I am looking forward to working again (and I am ). The little stone paths, the rocking chairs, the stairwells outside and inside are also wonderful places for romantic photo shoots.

5/22/2008 8:08:38 PM

Can anyone recommend a really good seamstress for wedding gown alterations?

5/27/2008 10:46:47 AM

CNN has had a ton of columns about weddings recently

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/news/weddings/index.html

from low budget weddings and etiquette, to bridesmaids drama

6/9/2008 1:48:42 PM

this is the wedding dress that my friend just picked out:



gorgeous


link here: http://www.jimhjelmbridal.com/jim_br/display_dress.php?imageno=8800&multimatch=x

and she totally has the body to pull it off....

7/19/2008 7:35:26 PM

damn i'm not into all this wedding type shit usually but i do find that dress^ nice

7/19/2008 7:37:49 PM

Who do you tip at the wedding? I told my parents we should tip the string quartet, but are we suppose to tip the waitstaff, the DJ, our florist, or such? Or is that going overboard?

7/20/2008 4:56:31 PM

^^^

Wow.

7/20/2008 4:57:12 PM

I've gotten tipped twice out of all the weddings I've worked on my own, thought it was nice but not necessary.

[Edited on July 20, 2008 at 5:07 PM. Reason : .]

7/20/2008 5:07:00 PM

I am planning my wedding for May 1st 2009 and although it feels far away I can't do any real planning from September - Beg of February due to work, so I am having to do almost all of it within the next month. Even better, I am planning the wedding from Raleigh and it will be in Wilmington.

I have all the BIG things: Ceremony, Dress, Photographer, Reception and even my wedding band. But I don't even know where to start with Flowers, DJ, Cake, and blocking off hotel rooms for guests. I know what I like in pictures but I guess I would love some recommendations for any good vendors in Wilmington/ Wrightsville Beach.

7/21/2008 3:43:54 PM

Quote :

" Wow."

for real...das niiiiiiiiiiice

7/21/2008 3:55:09 PM

yea, its gorgeous.

$3k...still waiting on approval from her mom to buy

7/21/2008 4:06:23 PM

i just got engaged this past weekend

now I have to start planning the wedding

I have no clue where to start, my fiance's and my parents are paying for shit, and I don't have any money to finance the wedding

luckily my fiance isn't high maintenance and doesn't want a huge elaborate wedding

7/21/2008 4:54:30 PM

congrats!

7/21/2008 4:55:25 PM

Quote :

"Who do you tip at the wedding? I told my parents we should tip the string quartet, but are we suppose to tip the waitstaff, the DJ, our florist, or such? Or is that going overboard?"

I got tipped for being an altar server at a Catholic wedding once (when I was 11.)

7/21/2008 4:56:07 PM

Quote :

"The amount of tips is personal, and you should weigh the quality of the service being offered with your budget and personal opinions. If you do choose to tip at your wedding, here are some general guidelines for amounts: • Civil ceremony officials. If a city clerk, justice of the peace or judge is officiating your wedding, a donation for his or her services is suggested, usually no more than about $75. • Religious officials. Generally, plan on tipping (considered a “donation to the church” in this case) between $75 and $100 to the rabbi, priest or clergy who performs the marriage ceremony. This should be presented to the officiant after the ceremony itself. • Wedding service musicians. Anywhere between $35 to $50 is a good tip for the musicians at your service — often the fees for musicians’ services are included in the fee for the church, so you may want to check to see how much they will be receiving in order to gauge an appropriate tip. If you have friends or family who are performing at your service, don’t forget to give them a tip, too. • Altar boys or girls. Don’t forget them! A tip around $10 each should suffice. • Limousine driver. If gratuity hasn’t already been added in to the final bill, tip your driver about 15 percent of the final bill. • Special services. Whether you tip the reception musician, florist, baker or photographer is up to you — generally, there’s only a tip involved if you feel they’ve gone beyond what you’ve paid for already. Check your bill to see what you’re already paying for — travel or special services, for instance — and then, if you’d like to give them something extra for exceptional service, plan on around 15 percent. • Bartenders. It’s acceptable to let your bartenders set out tip jars, but if you’d rather pay them a tip at the end of the evening, make sure your guests are aware of this with discreet “No Tipping” signs. Then, aim for around 10 percent of the total bill, divided among the bartenders. • DJ or musicians. If the DJ or band are independently owned, gratuity is optional. But if they’re owned by a larger company, an acceptable tip is between $50 to $100. • Wait staff. Again, check to be sure gratuity is not included in your overall bill before tipping — about 15 percent of the bill, more if the service is exceptional. • Wedding planner. If your wedding planner has been with you from start to finish, a tip of about 10 percent of the total bill is acceptable. "

7/21/2008 4:58:11 PM

so the girl and I have been talking about getting married sometime next year for awhile now. We have dated for a very long time and the relationship is still great (better than ever really), we have very similar goals in life and very similar interests etc etc. Here is the big problem. About a year ago, her Mom (who always seemed a bit "off" to me) just up and left her dad after them being married over 25 years. She did it rather quickly. Besides her being "not quite herself" (as her dad would put it) for a few months, he saw no signs of her leaving at all.

One day she calls him to tell him she quit her job (id say a job pushing 200k if I had to guess) and that she was moving out. What she did not tell him is that she took nearly every cent of money she could out of their joint accounts (including the college accounts for their twin daughters, money saved for marriages, marriage and college grad gifts etc.) He found this out pretty quickly though. Anywho, he makes good money himself (Id say just into 6 figures) but has been stuck making payments on a house that he cannot afford on his 1 single income, while now having to pay for his daughters' college expenses on his own, legal fees, appraisal fees etc. So even though he makes good money he really is spread way too thin at the moment. I feel terrible for him too because he is an awesome guy. Her mom is just a ...well I'll refrain but consider what I've told so far and the fact that she left for some new guy at work, and also is trying to sue my gf's dad for money since she quit her job and doesnt have a steady income (retarded I know).

Ok, so how does this relate to weddings? Her dad does not really have the money to be funding a wedding next year now because of all this. We were already planning to skimp on a lot of stuff that we feel is a waste of money(a DJ and huge bar setup for example)..but we didn't want completely bare bones.

So now I'm stuck wondering if we should just have the cheapest wedding we can or what. Things I can think of to save money on are like finding family friends who could make a nice cake, having one of the many bands I know provide the music dirt cheap, or go the ipod route, have the wedding at a time where we do not need to provide a full real meal at the reception etc. Anyone found any ways to save big without being tacky?

[Edited on July 29, 2008 at 2:16 PM. Reason : ]

7/29/2008 2:15:55 PM

^Have the wedding on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. You will save tons on the venue.

Also, check Costco for flowers. I'm not even kidding! They have gorgeous flowers.

[Edited on July 29, 2008 at 2:43 PM. Reason : flowers]

7/29/2008 2:43:14 PM

ill definitely keep those in mind

7/29/2008 2:46:48 PM

Quote :

"Have the wedding on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. You will save tons on the venue."

don't do this if you have important people coming from out of town - especially if it's an evening wedding - very few people want to take off monday from work and use a vacation day to be at your wedding

7/29/2008 2:49:34 PM

So have a Sunday afternoon wedding. "Important people" will come to your wedding no matter what. It only happens once.

7/29/2008 2:52:55 PM