Life brought some other priorities for me during these months...like a trip to my hometown to see my elderly mom, and getting both my daughters settled in at college; the youngest as a Freshman just starting out! Dorm shopping replaced wedding planning for quite a while.
I tried to bend my sweet sister's ear about the wedding when I went back to my hometown, but she had 2 boys and no daughters, so bless her heart, although she is one of my biggest supporters in life generally, her eyes totally glazed over whenever I would start and said, "I'm so glad I had boys!" At that point I made a mental note to myself to remember that not everyone is all that interested to hear about the wedding plans, and that's OK too. I did enjoy sharing ideas with those who WERE interested, like a good friend whose daughter got married a few months before my daughter did.
Here are some developments since the last entry:
I thought Amanda had picked out her bridesmaids dresses already, but she told me she hasn't gotten that totally nailed down yet. She had a few favorites bookmarked online, but had not seen any "in person" yet, and hadn't made any final selections. Actually, she hadn't gotten the bridesmaids totally nailed down yet. Krista, my younger daughter, will be her maid of honor and she asked 3 of her hometown girlfriends to be in the wedding, but as far as her college buddies -- still up in air. And, the 3 friends she DID ask were feuding...one had a boyfriend that the other 2 didn't approve of...OH the drama! Anyway...I was getting a bit nervous because we still didn't know for sure the size of the wedding party, and the bridesmaids dresses can take 6 months to order. Here we were, 9 months away from the wedding already. (Seems like yesterday I thought to myself, "Yes!...we have a whole year to plan.")
We officially booked the reception at The Hilton Hotel in Waco, and actually talked to the catering manager we would be working with, and saw the hotel dressed up for a wedding while in town visiting. It looked about as I expected. Can't say I was blown away. The Hilton standard chairs are a gold/tan vinyl, and for this wedding, the family had not opted for chair covers or rented chiavari chairs. To save costs, we planned to do the same, unfortunately. Their table decorations were OK, not outstanding, and they used the standard ivory linens the hotel has. I sure had dreams of punching up the decor a bit more, but my hubby and my daughter didn't want to spend that much money on it.
I guess the biggest update at this point is that we decided to bite the bullet and hire a Wedding Weekend Coordinator - Denise Harlan of Thee Designs. We would be spending about twice what I had hoped to on that, but I believed it would be worth it in peace of mind in the long run. Not living in Waco nor knowing any of the vendors, and not knowing anyone who does, it made sense to me to have a Waco resident wedding "expert" working with us. She was very personable, very capable, and she is a member of the church Amanda was getting married at, so she definitely had an "In" there! She and the Hilton Catering Manager seemed to have a mutual admiration society going on, too. At least I knew they work together well!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
She Said Yes to the Dress Already!
As of this time, we did have the date set, for Saturday May 21st of 2011. Amanda and Ian got the church and pastor lined up. It was to be in the church they attended as college students in the Waco area.
The reception venue was still a bit up in the air. There just aren't that many places in Waco, Texas that hold upwards of 200 people. As of this time, we favored the Hilton Hotel. We considered having the reception at the church, but it is a Baptist church, and my daughter wants a dance with a DJ, so...you get the drift.
Amanda went ahead and purchased the dress from the bridal shop in Denton. We figured that way, it was closer for me to go with her for the fittings when the dress came in. It was to arrive months before the wedding, anyway, so there would be plenty of time to transport it to Waco before the wedding. And little sister Krista (who was asked to be the Maid of Honor) finally got to see the dress to put her seal of approval on it when we drove up to purchase it, so that made both sisters happy.
The dress Amanda chose is the Maggie Sottero Monalisa Royale; a perfect princess ballgown if I ever saw one. She wanted strapless, a little bling on top, full ballgown skirt with pick ups, and a hem and train with some beading detail - and the Monalisa Royale delivers all of that. She chose ivory, because she feels white would wash her out too much. I was a little iffy about the ivory simply because of the old "virgin white" wedding tradition and wondering what some of the relatives will think. But evidently that idea is passe now; lots of brides are choosing to wear ivory and it has nothing to do with their purity status! Besides, we took a look at some photos of the Monalisa Royale online in white, and it is almost too glaring a white for our taste. The ivory looks a lot softer and more romantic. We put a chapel train on for effect, and it looked OK, but when we put the full-length veil on her, it really looked stunning! The dress just has enough drama to it that it needs the longer train.
Amanda seemed totally thrilled, although I must say, the bridal store people put a more form-fitting Maggie Sottero on her when they were trying to size her, and it looked awesome, too. I think her sister may have actually preferred that one, and I could tell even my bride was going, "Hmmmm.." But she's had her heart set on a ballgown forever, (both her prom dresses were ballgowns) so I knew there was no going back. I loved it, too!
The reception venue was still a bit up in the air. There just aren't that many places in Waco, Texas that hold upwards of 200 people. As of this time, we favored the Hilton Hotel. We considered having the reception at the church, but it is a Baptist church, and my daughter wants a dance with a DJ, so...you get the drift.
Amanda went ahead and purchased the dress from the bridal shop in Denton. We figured that way, it was closer for me to go with her for the fittings when the dress came in. It was to arrive months before the wedding, anyway, so there would be plenty of time to transport it to Waco before the wedding. And little sister Krista (who was asked to be the Maid of Honor) finally got to see the dress to put her seal of approval on it when we drove up to purchase it, so that made both sisters happy.
The dress Amanda chose is the Maggie Sottero Monalisa Royale; a perfect princess ballgown if I ever saw one. She wanted strapless, a little bling on top, full ballgown skirt with pick ups, and a hem and train with some beading detail - and the Monalisa Royale delivers all of that. She chose ivory, because she feels white would wash her out too much. I was a little iffy about the ivory simply because of the old "virgin white" wedding tradition and wondering what some of the relatives will think. But evidently that idea is passe now; lots of brides are choosing to wear ivory and it has nothing to do with their purity status! Besides, we took a look at some photos of the Monalisa Royale online in white, and it is almost too glaring a white for our taste. The ivory looks a lot softer and more romantic. We put a chapel train on for effect, and it looked OK, but when we put the full-length veil on her, it really looked stunning! The dress just has enough drama to it that it needs the longer train.
Amanda seemed totally thrilled, although I must say, the bridal store people put a more form-fitting Maggie Sottero on her when they were trying to size her, and it looked awesome, too. I think her sister may have actually preferred that one, and I could tell even my bride was going, "Hmmmm.." But she's had her heart set on a ballgown forever, (both her prom dresses were ballgowns) so I knew there was no going back. I loved it, too!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
And Here We Go!
I have always loved weddings, and was so excited when my oldest daughter Amanda became formally engaged in the spring of 2010. I loved planning my own wedding 25 years ago, and hoped to be of help to her, although from the start she was intent on doing a lot of the planning herself. My job was to be supportive and offer suggestions without forcing my wishes on her.
As I started this blog, the most fun/easy thing was done -- she had chosen the dress already. It concerned me that we only looked at two stores and she found it at the second one, but we both almost immediately fell in love with the dress. It took a while, though, to put down a deposit and order it, because of the logistical challenge her wedding presented us with.
We live in Flower Mound, Texas; the dress Amanda selected was in a bridal shop in Denton, Texas which is almost an hour north of Flower Mound. The wedding was planned to be in Waco, Texas -- about 2 hours drive-time south of home; and at the time, she was temporarily working in Austin, Texas which is even further south than Waco. Her fiance Ian was from New Braunfels, which is even further south from Austin!
For several months no one had seen the dress yet except me; Amanda was hoping to let some of her bridesmaids see the dress before actually buying it. And it took her a while to name the bridesmaids, too. But none of the shops she contacted in Austin had the dress in stock. They could order it for her (being a Maggie Sottero) but as far as having one for her to try on, no luck. So, we were at our first roadblock.
Second issue that came up was a slight delay in choosing the official date of the wedding! But more on that, later.
As I started this blog, the most fun/easy thing was done -- she had chosen the dress already. It concerned me that we only looked at two stores and she found it at the second one, but we both almost immediately fell in love with the dress. It took a while, though, to put down a deposit and order it, because of the logistical challenge her wedding presented us with.
We live in Flower Mound, Texas; the dress Amanda selected was in a bridal shop in Denton, Texas which is almost an hour north of Flower Mound. The wedding was planned to be in Waco, Texas -- about 2 hours drive-time south of home; and at the time, she was temporarily working in Austin, Texas which is even further south than Waco. Her fiance Ian was from New Braunfels, which is even further south from Austin!
For several months no one had seen the dress yet except me; Amanda was hoping to let some of her bridesmaids see the dress before actually buying it. And it took her a while to name the bridesmaids, too. But none of the shops she contacted in Austin had the dress in stock. They could order it for her (being a Maggie Sottero) but as far as having one for her to try on, no luck. So, we were at our first roadblock.
Second issue that came up was a slight delay in choosing the official date of the wedding! But more on that, later.
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