Completely loving this super cute idea! If I’d come across it sooner, I definitely would have done it! So maybe it’s good that I didn’t! Like I really needed another DIY project!! It definitely would have entertained the kiddos, but they were already pretty entertained with all the toys I had at their tables, the endless supply of the desserts, and lets not forget the DANCING!!

I found this recently posted at Blue Sky Designs, and just had to check it out, even though I can’t use it myself! It’s pretty customizeable (is that a word?), giving you options to insert names and dates, as it gives highlights of the wedding day events and people. It’s in word format, so it is pretty easy to edit/delete/add to suit your own style/needs!

Go check it out, and also see Tara’s final product when she recently used it at her wedding, along with cute little ribbon tied bundles of crayons!

I imagined for a long time what it would be like to finally pick out that beautiful white dress I’d wear down the aisle to meet my love. I did NOT imagine the way that I would find it turning out like it did!

Several years ago, I’d decided that I wanted my dress to have some blue in it. I found a picture in a magazine of a dress that I loved before I’d even met my hubby (yes, I know I’m one of *those* girls!), and I had even seen it in a store while looking for dresses with my sis-in-law, Lindsey. But that was a few years back, and it was on a discontinued rack, so I figured I’d be starting all over again.

My mom was on the hunt for the perfect dress for me not long after I got engaged and had me draw a sketch to get a better idea of what I wanted. She mentioned that visiting a nearby consignment store in Hermitage might be a good idea- just to look. I kind of brushed off the idea thinking I’d never get my dress there, but thought it couldn’t hurt to send her to look. She went off to that store, and my bridesmaid Kelley and I set off to visit several of the “elite” boutiques around the Nashville area,  where we ended up having  no luck! I was never helped by anyone, never able to try on a dress, and once we were even run out of a store for taking pictures (apparently it was posted that you couldn’t take pictures, we honestly never saw it, even after being told it was there!).

Dissapointed and getting nowhere, we heard from my mom that the consignment store had found my “perfect” dress. Still not believing it, I decided to go anyways, because if someone there had already picked out a dress for me, it had to be better than what I’d already experienced!

So we headed for Hermitage and Memories Consignment store.

The store, owned by Diane   Allmon, has been around for a long time. In fact, I remember visiting it in highschool looking for prom dresses, which was well over 10 years ago now! Some of my friends even sold their old dresses there later on. I never bought anything there, and my own memories of it were that, although there were some nice things, most of it was a bit older and outdated.  Last May, due to arson, the entire shop burnt to the ground leaving only the few dresses that Diane had in her car at the time. The man who set the shop on fire was eventually caught, but nothing survived the fire and Diane had to start it all over again. And she has with great success!!

Former site of Memories. The foundation and sign are still there, although the store itself moved a block or so down the road!

The store is FILLED with wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, mother’s dresses, and flower dresses. Even if you don’t BUY your dress here, it’s a great place to make some money SELLING it, and a great way to help a fantastic woman rebuild her store.

During busy times, any store gets a little chaotic, but things were still lookin good the day I returned to take photos, despite what Diane said about it being a mess!!

Working hard to provide for her children and grandchildren, Diane has done a great job rebuilding her store and making it a success! From the moment you walk in the door, you feel right at home and welcomed in by her southern charm. And when she says she has just the dress for you- believe it! She really just might! She is an amazing, encouraging, and down to earth woman. The kind of person that you can tell is willing to do whatever she can to help you. She doesn’t advertise, so she relies heavily on word-of-mouth to get her business out there!

As soon as I walked in that first time, I told her who I was, and she immediately went and pulled out the dress she had been holding just for me. I thought it looked nice, but still wasn’t convinced.  So I looked through all the dresses she had, picked out a few more, and headed in the back to try on a few dresses with Kelley’s help. I tried on her suggestion first- and loved it! But still thought I should try on a few more. Who buys the first wedding dress they’ve ever tried on??!

But, the first one, was THE one! I was sooooo thrilled to have something HUGE already taken care of, after only weeks of being engaged! Diane even showed me some veils and tiaras, and even her selection of tuxs that she rents! She just about has it all!

Although Diane offers alterations at a GREAT price- I got mine for free through a family friend (and mom of the cute jr. bm below!) who was also making some dresses and altering my bridesmaid’s dresses. If I didn’t have her, I probably would’ve gone with their alteration service.

Here is my dress….it is a David’s Bridal dress, but I never had to set a foot in David’s to get it (haha!!)

With my lovely Jr. BM, Olivia- modeling our dresses together! (I made it big so you can see details!)

Want to guess how much my dress cost?? Just take a guess!! Unfortunately, the dress was only available for rent, since it’s hard for Diane to keep dresses without trains on hand (I had never wanted a train on my dress), and they are often used for homecoming and occasions other than weddings. But really….will any of my future daughters want to wear my dress?? Probably not!  Plus, I could do literally anything I wanted to it! Shorten, add straps, add embelishments, whatever! Did you take a guess yet?? Was your guess under $100?? ) Who gets a wedding dress for $90?? Me! Who thought I would? Not me!!

I love being frugal and saving money wherever I can, and this was a GREAT place to do it! I got the dress of my dreams, and didn’t have to fork over half my wedding budget to do so! That really helped us have a much more elaborate reception that we originally thought we could have! If I’d kept the dress, it would’ve gone straight to a box  to be preserved after being drycleaned (which probably would’ve cost close to or more than what the dress cost me!), to be taken out someday by my daughter, only to have her say “Ehhh….not really my style…” (I did this with my mom’s!!), and then go back to the box unused and taking up space!

I loved that the dress was strapless, and thought it looked good- when I was standing still! (in the above picture its still too loose so it’s not up where it should be and you can kinda tell it doesn’t fit quite right!!) But I knew that I would be pulling at it all day, and be self consious if I ever bent over!  So I had straps made from material where the hem was taken up, had it taken in several inches (it was a big size-which was good for my chest area!!Hehe!), and had blue tulle added to where it V-ed in the front and already had white tulle.

 
In between alterations…it was done just enough to take it to the beach for “bridal portraits!” It was still a tad too big and the tulle blew away with the wind!

So after I got back from the beach, we took it in more and sewed the tulle down better for perfect results! Here are a few final pics the day of! I surprisingly couldn’t find a photo of just me in the dress, head on! But  I’m not very much a “take a picture of just me”- type person!

 
Love how you can see the blue in this one!

And I was thrilled with the results!! I was adamant about a dress with no train, because I didn’t want to be the bride who you have to back off from to be careful not to step on my dress! I wanted to be able to move around freely, dance freely, hug freely, and not have to worry about carrying it! Adding the straps to it definitely helped too!

I also rented a tiara from Diane, as I couldn’t find any in other stores that I liked for a decent price. They either looked too cheap, too elaborate or too expensive! It cost me around $10 to rent the tiara, which I loved a whole lot more than any other’s I’d seen, even in bridal boutiques!

And to complete the outfit…here are my shoes (and my toes with little flowers!) They are from New York & Company, one of my favorite stores! I also had a bright aqua blue pair I changed into for the reception! My feet didn’t hurt all day long!!

I couldn’t have done it without the help of Diane and Memories! If you are on the search for your perfect dress. Definitely check her store out! And if you’ve already found yours, keep it in mind for selling your dress after the big day! If you do go, tell her that Stacey sent you! See if she ever remembered to look for this entry I told her I’d be writing! )

Memories Consignment Shop
Diane Allmon
4983 Lebanon Pike
Old Hickory, TN 37138
391-4931

(all photos from my personal collection or Bledsoe Photography)

I’ve been seeing lots of bridal clearance at Walmart lately! Probably making room for their new lines- which are actually kind of nice!! Just wanted to post real quick about this- I’ll put up some pics later of stuff I just got! I got somethings before my wedding over a month ago now- cake server/knife set for one (more on that later! it was left in my car and never used!!), and somethings just yesterday!

Yesterday I got some bachelorette party stuff (somehow I’m the keeper of all bach party stuff among all my friends! even the stuff from my own!) and cute thank you notes- each item for $.50!!  I’ll post pics later, but I’m off to run errands now and maybe even to check out another Walmart or two for more goodies!! Definitely need more TY notes! Still working on getting those out!!

There’s also lots of invitations, flower petals, guest book pens, and many other things on clearance. They probably aren’t the best and highest quality, but some will definitely do for the price, if you’re in a pinch or throwing a quick wedding! I even saw a really cute hankercheif with blue rhinestone hearts that I would’ve loved to have had! But I did ask my aunt last minute for an old one of hers!

I also got my ring bearer pillows from their new line! I’ll also post more on those later!! Lots to do!!!

Donette and Steve of Designs in Paper are currently my fave people! )

I’d met them before at a bridal show, and again last weekend at the party. I’d talked to them about doing my wedding programs since I thought I had invitations covered, but then when that didn’t work out- I needed them for that too! They are AMAZING!!

One of my very first posts was on their confetti….if you read the post…well, you can tell I was a recently engaged, barely started the planning process bride! Oh my lofty expectations of creating my invites myself!! HA!!!! Now I know there are brides that do it, but I have way more important things to do with my time than cut, fold, print, design, etc. If it was all I had to do- no prob! But not when there are a million other details I barely have time for!!

And to think, I thought I couldn’t afford their invites! I can’t afford NOT to use their invites! ) They do so much of the work and do it WELL! )

Everything is custom made, so there is no cookie cutter form or design that you have to stick with!

Since no one really read my blog way back when (hehe!), I’m going to do another post on their confetti, then one on the invites!

Almost anything you can think of they can make it…..except for donkeys! Yes, someone asked them to make donkeys! Haha! But almost anything else! I’m thinking of our names (to keep a theme on our invites and programs). and palm trees or shells (to match the decor!)

Their confetti is only $12.50 per bag of 100 pieces!! Also, it’s free with invitations!! They were even going to throw some in with my programs when I was just thinking about getting those from them!

Here’s some fun examples of their confetti!

These martini glasses are from the SATC party! They were also in green and too cute!!!

And these are some examples of the cute way they make monogram/name confetti!

And the super fun stuff they made for Ashley…

Totally worth looking into, right?? I probably would’ve had them make me confetti, even if I ordered nothing else from them! Now, I’m so glad they’re doing it all!! More to come!

Ok, there have been lots of different wedding traditions/standards that I’ve come across lately that I think are just so silly! The price hikes on some things simply because they are for a “wedding” is ridiculous!

This is my latest complaint/pain in my side– Chair covers!!!

This is what the chairs at my reception look like….

Not bad…..except they don’t really match the “look” I’m going for or my colors! This is what my tables are shaping up to look like….

Ignore all the stuff along the edges, around the lantern will be some votive candles and scattered shells and confetti (more on the confetti later!!) Also the shells in the lantern will be arranged better!

I think they purposely make chairs that are least likely to match your decor, so that you have to rent the chair covers! They are $5.50 a CHAIR!! I have to pay $5.50 for every person at my reception to have a seat?? Crazy!! We’re expecting about 120, so that’s an extra $660 at least- not counting tax! AH!! We already have to pay to rent the table lines, and well there’s no way I’m not getting those!!

So, we’re looking into some other options–
- no chair covers
- rent chair covers for the head tables only
- borrow chair covers from my aunt’s friend for all tables (waiting to see how many she has and if we can borrow them AND if our venue will let us use other covers!)
- borrow chair covers from my aunt’s friend for the head tables only

Here’s my question(s!)….other brides PLEASE weigh in!! How important is it to make sure that your chairs match? Did you decided to go for it if your venue needed it? Have you ever even noticed whether or not the chairs at a reception matched the rest of the decor??

Let me know what you think about chair covers!!!!

Awhile ago, Chaundra, my good friend, seamstress, and mother of my fave kids in the world (other than my nieces/nephews!) helped me pick out material for the junior bridesmaids and flower girls. Two of her girls-Lauren and Olivia, and my niece Brittany are junior bridesmaids, and her youngest Gabriella and my niece Caylie and Ray’s niece Kaylee (yep, same name!) are flower girls. That’s a lot of kids to say in one sentence!! Yes, that means 3 jr. bridesmaids and 3 flower girls. It’s a lot, but there is no way I’d leave a single one of them out!!

On Sunday, two of my bridesmaids and I went over to Chaundra’s to get their dresses altered. Yes, not only is Chaundra making the 6 little girls dresses, she’s also altering 3 of my BM’s dresses and my dress- she is that fabulous!!  Obviously, because that morning she whipped up this dress for Olivia!

Doesn’t Olivia look like a little princess!! It will be a little shorter, so the girls can dance the night away without tripping all over themselves, and it will have a sash around it- a little thinner than this one that Chaundra just threw around Olivia to get the effect!

It will be exact opposite colors of the BM dresses!

The flower girls will have the same dresses in white with navy sashes!

I can’t wait to see all my beautiful ladies all dressed up!! ;o) 

Last week, my mom and I did lots of searching for suits for the guys in the wedding! We decided to go with buying them, since renting can get close to the cost of buying them! Especially since we are going with navy!

The best deals that my mom found were at J.C. Penney’s. I rarely shop there, but I have heard other people say that they’ve found good deals on suits. She found a manager that is working with us, to get us the best, discounted price! And because we’re buying at least 8, he’s giving us a really good deal!

Here’s some pics of myself and my good looking men! Please excuse the fact that I didn’t fix my hair or put on make-up! I knew I was going to be a bridesmaid “stand-in”, but didn’t think about fixing myself up! ) And Ray was complaining that he didn’t fix his hair either, and you’ll notice his brown flip flops in a few pics- don’t worry, he’s not wearing those!! And the BM’s aren’t going barefoot like I am! ) They will look much prettier!

 Here’s myself with my handsome fiance- who reverted to his old picture taking ways with a goofy face! But hey, remember, these pics are about the clothes!! )

I absolutely love the tie that we picked out for him– from Dillard’s. It cost a bit, but the stripes in it match the dress and the groomsmen ties perfectly (see groomsman tie below on my dad!), and we’re going to keep looking for it to go on sale!

Here’s the Father of the Bride joining us…. He’s wearing one of the ties we got for the groomsmen and possibly for him too, from Ross. It is a light teal blue with some faint paisley outlines.

Tie up close on Father of the Bride…..

We had the guys in black shoes, but tried them out with brown as well…..ummmmm….we’ll go with black!!

And the three of us go for a stroll in the sun………..

We’re pretty set on these suits, just need to gather up the groomsmen and his dad’s sizes then off we’ll go to purchase them all! We might change his dad and my dad’s ties, but the groom is set and so are the groomsmen!  They also go lovely with my flowers as well, which I forgot to bring to the “photo-shoot” but here’s a pic to remind you!

I can’t wait to see it all put together in the end!!!

Ray and I booked our honeymoon hotel awhile back at Los Altos de Eros in Costa Rica. (see the link for my previous post on that hotel!) While we’d still LOVE to stay there, reality has been setting in that staying there would probably put us into debt starting off our marriage! At $395-$495 a NIGHT…it’s not cheap…..but it seems to be out of this world!! It’s slightly all-inclusive- smoothies, beer, wine, breakfast and lunch are included.

I was especially excited about staying in Tamarindo, Costa Rica because the week we booked the hotel, I had shown all my classes a Travel Channel Samantha Brown video on her trip there! After 10 times of watching her surf, ride dirt bikes, relax in infinity pools and lay in a hammock in Costa Rica, I had to do it to!

By the way…..If I could pick ANY job in the world, it would be HERS! But I think I’d do it a little better- at least in the Spanish speaking countries she visits! Her Spanish is pretty bad! But at least she tries!! I think she’s the coolest chic ever though!! I know her job can be tough and fast paced, but she gets PAID to see the world!!! I soooo want that job!

But back to the point……..We’ve changed our hotel in CR! Actually, we’re now booked for 2 places but will eventually cancel one! Good thing about hotels here- you pay when you leave, so no one has our credit card # right now!! They finalize your reservation when you send them your airfare info.

My mom and dad are SUPER amazing and got us our plane tickets into Liberia, CR for FREE! Yes, that’s right- FREE! Well….nothing’s free I guess! There was about $180 worth of processing fees- so silly! But amazing compared to the fact that we would be paying well over $1200 for 2 tickets there! My dad’s been flying so much lately that he’s earned tons of points- obviously enough for 2 tickets! And my mom was great about finding us a flight that would actually work with our schedule and the airline’s (they only allow so many free passengers per flight!) Too bad we’ll get hit with American Airlines new $15 per checked bag fee!

So you’d think that getting free air would make us think we could splurge a little! Nope! As we’re seeing how much $$$$$ this wedding is going to cost- and the fact that we’ll probably have zero left to put on the honeymoon, we’re seeing we need to cut back!

(oh the memories of Honduras! These things are not my friend, but animal life is abundant in CR!!)

So we found a fabulous little hotel- Hotel Capitan Suiza, which we are quite happy with. Los Altos only had 6 rooms and was very intimate, but the Capitan only has 30, so it’s not a huge commercial hotel either. It’s not all-inclusive, but like I’ve said before- I’ve heard good and not so good things about all-inclusive. Breakfast is included, and the restaurant looks fantastic and isn’t too expensive! We’ve read nothing but good things about the hotel too!

Wish I could put better pics of the hotel on here, but I can’t copy the ones on their page….so go look at them here- Hotel Capitan Suizo Photos. Amazing!! The restaurant all lit up, reminds me of the one in the recent movie – Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Looks like fun!

It’s also right on the beach, which seems to be pretty clean and pretty private. Los Altos is up in the mountains/jungle over looking the ocean (they take you there whenever you want). But there is something about waking up and throwing on a bathing suit and heading straight to the beach, then wandering back every now and then for a dip in the pool, etc. )

We’re spending less than half what we would spend a night at Los Altos (around $175 at the Capitan), so that should give us lots of money to play/eat/drink with! We even decided to book the honeymoon suite for the last 2 nights (the last, not the first so we don’t get too spoiled and hate our smaller room!), and it’s even cheaper than the small room at Los Altos!

Trip Advisor was an invaluable resource for us! Yes, I know that on many travel review sites people only post negative experiences. Well at both of these hotels there were almost nothing but RAVING reviews because everyone loved them both so much! Although, you should take the negatives with a grain of salt, it’s still a great resource!

So- if you have LOTS of money after throwing your fabulous wedding- head to Los Altos de Eros. If you are throwing a “Fabu-less” wedding- head to the Capitan! Whatever you do- definitely put Costa Rica on your “must-see” honeymoon list!!

This past week, I read an article in The Tennessean about a local bride’s efforts to create a “green” wedding. It seems everywhere I turn these days I’m hearing about brides trying to be more eco-friendly in their planning process.

I think it’s a fantastic idea, but “The wedding will cost well above the average $25,000 that Nashville brides spend, in part, Suzanne [the bride's mother] said, because of their efforts to be socially responsible.”  So who knows what the actual cost is!! Mine is probably half of that! While I’d love to do some of the things this bride is doing, such as invitations made with soy ink on recycled fibers, using more organic ingredients in catering, etc. She’s got some great ideas!

But as of yet, these new ideas come with a HUGE price tag! In my thinking it should be cheaper to help the environment than to hurt it- to make people want to chose the helpful things. I guess it’s along the same lines as- we eat so much junk food because it’s so darn cheap!!

So in the spirit of things….here are a few things I’ve tried to start doing lately to “go green”- some wedding related, some not!

- changing all my light bulbs to those funny, but cool curly florescent bulbs (even found some    round vanity ones for my bathroom!

- recycling- I’ve started lots of piles to haul off everything from water bottles, coke cans, newspaper, cardboard, etc. (looking into a recycling pick up in our new place!)

- hopefully omitting outer envelopes for my invitations (I don’t see the point of them anyways!)

- either omitting wedding favors altogether, or using something that won’t get tossed out!

- conserve water by showering faster!

- finding new ways to get to work so I don’t waste so much gas stuck in traffic! (but let’s not start on the gas prices! ugh!!)

- This may be more about saving money but has to help the environment some– Ray and I both avoid turning on our heat/air conditioning as MUCH as possible- only if we’re freezing or burning up does it come on!! This (and hopefully with some help from the new lights) has significantly lowered our electric bills!!

So obviously, I need help with some more ideas…..if you have any free or cheap ideas on how to help save the environment, wedding related or not! Please do share!

And check out The Tennessean article if you’ve got a big budget to make your wedding green!