Future Brides, how is the wedding planning going?

[StratusRose]

Anyone else feel free to jump in.

As of today I am 86 more days away from my wedding. It’s really starting to become real. I did something crazy yesterday and bought a new wedding dress! I bought one back in July but I have lost 30 lbs since then and my dress would have needed a lot of work. The new one is also more modest, it covers my shoulders and back. (It came with a lace shrug, so cute!) I feel much more comfortable in it. My old dress was a halter dress, not very modest for a Catholic ceremony!

I am also in the midst of picking out flower arrangements. My mom knows a Mennonite family that owns a nursery. They are growing cream and pink gerbera daisies as we speak…much cheaper than a regular flower shop!

As for favors, we’re going to have a candy buffet. After Valentine’s Day is over I am going to buy the leftover candy and put it in glass jars with scoops, then place cellophane bags with the jars so people can get whatever they like.

Sorry if this sounds “braggy” but I am just SO excited about my wedding!

 

[Lucania]

StratusRose, I’m not a bride-to-be (my daughter was married last May 13th!) but I want to tell you that I LOVE your dress! Congrats on the weight loss too! I don’t think you’re bragging at all, you’re just excited and that is normal!

 

[lotusblossom]

I’m also not a bride-to-be (but was married last July) as I’m sure you already know .

I, too, wanted to say I LOVE LOVE LOVE your dress!!! And congrats on losing all that weight!!! I lost between 5-10 lbs for mine, but quickly gained it back on the honeymoon (we pretty much just ate and slept) which was fine b/c then we conceived and now I’m a balloon!

Also, way to go for saving money! We went with a private florist who did flowers out of her home (so her rates were much cheaper). My mom met her while blueberry picking of all things.

And I REALLY like your candy idea! We bought Hershey’s kisses and Skittles and put them all over the tables. I think my DH ate all the skittles in our area. We had tons of Hershey’s kisses left over, so my mom put them in a big vase and we munched on them for the next month or so.

Oh, another word of caution - favors are WAY overrated! We bought holy cards of the Holy Family with a prayer for families on the back and tied little bells to them. We have an entire box left over because so many people did NOT take them with them! What we’re going to do with them, I’m not sure…for now they’re just lying in a box.

 

[queen_anne78]

got married in May…LOVE LOVE your dress!!! It’s sooo cute. We did rosaries as wedding favors (made some people mad but…whatev. lol). I was able to go to World Youth Day in Cologne, and I brought all 300 of them with me, and had them blessed by Pope Benedict…it was amusing at the end of the reception to watch my Catholic friends trying to fight charitably for the left-behind rosaries…haha.

Oh weddings are so great!!! I get so excited for people getting married, b/c I remember how I felt on my wedding day and it’s the BEST feeling…I’d relive it again if I could Enjoy!!!

 

[hasikelee]

It’s not going very well at all!

My dad has a contract that will have him traveling all but 36 days out of the whole year of 2007, so my mom is begging me to push the date into 2008.

We can’t find a church or decide on one, and we can’t find a reception that will allow us to have 300-400 people, bring in our own caterer and decorator, and have a family atmosphere.

I think this wedding is going to be moved from November 2007 to August 2008. At least that will solve the reception issues as we can then have a big bash outdoors.

 

[StratusRose]

You gals make me feel so good about that dress. I bought it alone and I had wished there was someone with me. My mom said it had to grow on her…she likes very simple dresses, she said I looked like a birthday cake after I sent her the pic of me in it. But now she says she likes it. Once she sees it in person I know she will.

I have a horror story about the dress already…I got home from work and put it on and was admiring it, then I took it off and laid it on my bed and saw bright orange stains underneath the train. Yeah…my cat threw up and my train grazed over it. I WAS FURIOUS!! I am glad I noticed it right away because I got most of it out, but boy was that a scare!!

Lotusblossom - I took the favor thing into consideration, that’s why I’m only going to order about 150 cellophane bags instead of 180. (That’s how many guests we’re anticipating.) Not everyone is into favors, so whoever wants them can take a bag of candy home. The bags are only like $.20/bag, and the candy will be cheap, too.

hasikelee - I’m sorry to hear about your wedding woes… I hope everything works out.

 

[lotusblossom]

It’s not going very well at all!

My dad has a contract that will have him traveling all but 36 days out of the whole year of 2007, so my mom is begging me to push the date into 2008.

We can’t find a church or decide on one, and we can’t find a reception that will allow us to have 300-400 people, bring in our own caterer and decorator, and have a family atmosphere.

I think this wedding is going to be moved from November 2007 to August 2008. At least that will solve the reception issues as we can then have a big bash outdoors.

Haskilee,

Have you tried finding a gymnasium of a Catholic school or something? My bestfriend got married two and a half years ago and had about 300 guests, I believe at her wedding/reception and she had hers in a gymnasium of a local Catholic school. They brought in their own decorations and food and it was BEAUTIFUL!

 

[OldAgeGuru]

Not a future bride yet, but as a future bridesmaid, I can say the planning is going wonderful, but the dresses are ugly and I am officially broke.

 

[puzzleannie]

near relative married in December got a fab dress for under $100 on E-bay, she is very petite and was having a tough time, it was actually a teen’s confirmation dress, but very pretty and appropriate, not babyish at all. Her sister wore dress from a previous wedding out of state that no one here has seen, another savings. They had the reception at the groom’s workplace after hours. A cousin who is a caterer did everything at cost, in-laws paid salaries for the wait persons. Drinks were limited to wine, beer and punch, easy to self-serve. This couple is savvy, wanted a good time for all, but still save money toward new house and paying off student loans. It was a really lovely wedding. Christmas decorations were already in place at both reception and church, so no expense there. Men just wore dress suits, no tuxes to rent. She made them all buy the same white shirt and tie, however.

 

[kage_ar]

Our family has two weddings a week apart! Memorial Day weekend my brother will get married and the next Saturday my niece! Both brides will have pink as the wedding color, so, I call them “blush and bashful”

 

[Kanda]

Lotusblossom - I took the favor thing into consideration, that’s why I’m only going to order about 150 cellophane bags instead of 180. (That’s how many guests we’re anticipating.) Not everyone is into favors, so whoever wants them can take a bag of candy home. The bags are only like $.20/bag, and the candy will be cheap, too.

Favors are over rated, but you can’t go wrong with candy. You can take care of the left overs yourself!

Really. For my wedding, we had traditional jordan almonds. We put them in bags, 5 each. There was a small note card attatched to the bags, one side had our names and the date. The other side said “Five surgard almonds for each guest to eat, to remind us that life is both bitter and sweet. Five wishes for the new husband and wife: Health, wealth, happiness, children, and a long life!”

We made a boat load of these things! It’s a good thing dh loves jordan almonds (I hate them) - he polished them all off in about 2 weeks!

 

[MegSisk]

Haskilee,

Have you tried finding a gymnasium of a Catholic school or something? My bestfriend got married two and a half years ago and had about 300 guests, I believe at her wedding/reception and she had hers in a gymnasium of a local Catholic school. They brought in their own decorations and food and it was BEAUTIFUL!

I second this idea! I just got married a month ago and we had our reception of about 350 people in the school gymnasium connected to the church. Family friends did all of the food, flowers and decorations. It looked beautiful and saved us TONS of money!

Sorry I can’t help it but I have to show off my husband a little! Here is a picture from our wedding!

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=653&stc=1&d=1170974347

 

[lissabears]

“Oh, another word of caution - favors are WAY overrated! We bought holy cards of the Holy Family with a prayer for families on the back and tied little bells to them. We have an entire box left over because so many people did NOT take them with them! What we’re going to do with them, I’m not sure…for now they’re just lying in a box.”

lotusblossom- I would love to see a picture of the Holy Family prayer cards with bells if you have a digital camera & can get them online. I still have about a year until my wedding but that seems like a great idea!

 

[Rach620]

I still have two years to wait until my wedding day, but I wanted to jump in anyways!

We’re planning on soon after Easter 2009 in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame (we’re students here, and this place means so much to us ).

I’ve generally put the wedding planning out of my mind and we’ve been focusing on the engagement and preparing ourselves (and our families) for the marriage, but we know the location (and our general plan for the future) at least!

And one other thing! I know this has been plugged before, but a brand new forum started up called Our Lady’s Brides. I know that most wedding planning sites don’t offer much advice about Catholic wedding planning that’s too helpful, but the community that’s getting started over there is great! All you brides-to-be should check it out!

 

[Rach620]

Oh! One more thing–I absolutely LOVE your dress, StratusRose! The one thing I have allowed myself to do is browse wedding dress photos, and that one from David’s Bridal has definitely caught my eye! Does yours have a red sash, too, or is it a different color?

 

[puzzleannie]

Not a future bride yet, but as a future bridesmaid, I can say the planning is going wonderful, but the dresses are ugly and I am officially broke.

makes me remember DD’s bridesmaids went to pick up their dresses, which were black, not teal as ordered, and I went ballistic, but we did get new dresses in 3 weeks (a week before the wedding).

 

[StratusRose]

I second this idea! I just got married a month ago and we had our reception of about 350 people in the school gymnasium connected to the church. Family friends did all of the food, flowers and decorations. It looked beautiful and saved us TONS of money!

Sorry I can’t help it but I have to show off my husband a little! Here is a picture from our wedding!

forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=653&stc=1&d=1170974347

I love your dress! You and your husband look so happy in that pic!

 

[StratusRose]

Oh! One more thing–I absolutely LOVE your dress, StratusRose! The one thing I have allowed myself to do is browse wedding dress photos, and that one from David’s Bridal has definitely caught my eye! Does yours have a red sash, too, or is it a different color?

Glad you asked…the sash I picked is a chocolate brown, but my mom thinks that it’s too much of a contrast with the white, so I am going back to David’s to get a pink one. (They’re only $15.) If we decide to go with the pink sash then I will use the brown one with my bouquet. (My colors are pink and brown.) The dress came with a white sash and I think I will be wearing that one during the ceremony and the pink one at the reception. We’re having the reception in a restored tobacco barn on a plantation.

 

[MegSisk]

I love your dress! You and your husband look so happy in that pic!

Thank you so much! We are very happy Your reception site looks like so much fun! I’m sure it is going to be great!

 

[StratusRose]

Thank you so much! We are very happy Your reception site looks like so much fun! I’m sure it is going to be great!

Are you wearing a mantilla veil in that pic? I have one but it’s ivory, so I might have to get a white one to match my new dress. I’m scoping one out on ebay.