2008 August | 12k Wedding Blog

August 28, 2008 by Mrs. 12k | Filed in: Reception

I don’t know yet. Really. But this picture is very nice.

I think the setting is a little too rustic for this city girl, but I do love the colors.

Not to mention I bought several red, ivory and yellow paper lanterns during a store closing sale at Cost Plus last year.

Yeah – I definitely bought them with our wedding reception in mind.

And I happen to love tomatoes.

This is great.

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Technorati Tags: Colors, Decor, ideas, Reception, theme

Venue Woes

August 26, 2008 by Mrs. 12k | Filed in: Venue

After people find out we’re engaged, the first question they eagerly ask with unbridled anticipation is, “Have you set a date?”

And my response is always a disappointing, “Not yet, we have to find a venue first. Once we find a venue, we’ll see what days they still have available.”

Here’s where we stand as of now:

Traditional banquet halls are usually cookie-cutter, expensive and have bad food
Loft spaces are abundant in downtown Detroit but are not available for event rental
Many Saturdays next year are already booked, relegating us to either a Friday or Sunday, both of which have their issues
Non-traditional venues in Downtown Detroit (museums, theatres, etc.) are too expensive and/or too small
There are a bunch of vacant buildings and buildable areas along the Detroit River that would be perfect locations, but alas, aren’t suitable for occupancy

I knew this wouldn’t be easy but – DANG!

A few of the places that we considered, but won’t work out:

So I continue to look, using all the web universe searching knowledge I can muster. All the while, time is ticking and there are plenty of other decisions that need to be made that all hinge on our final choice of venue.

Any ideas? Even if you don’t live in Detroit, can you think of any other types of locations I should check out?

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Technorati Tags: Ceremony, Detroit, downtown, location, Reception, Venue

And the Winner is…

August 23, 2008 by Mrs. 12k | Filed in: The Bride's Stuff

Marta!

Yes – This beautiful dress is the one that I’ve chosen. It fits almost perfectly and will need minimal alterations. I love that it’s simple, but with some interesting details. I’m not sure if it’s clear from the picture, but the top has pleat-like architectural detail that I love.

And it’s not stark white, either, which I didn’t want. It is strapless, and for a long time I didn’t think I would get a strapless dress. After trying on a few strapless dresses in a bridal salon and having the consultant tell me I could pull it off with some good alterations, I gave in.

The dress may have cost a little more than I would’ve liked, but after looking for so long and loving this one more each time I looked at it, I splurged. It probably means I’ll have to cut costs somewhere else, but I don’t regret my decision.

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Technorati Tags: Bride, Dress, gown

I Finally Found a Free Font

August 14, 2008 by Mrs. 12k | Filed in: Behind the Scenes, DIY

Since our invites will be diy style and I don’t how *fancy* they’ll end up being, I wanted to use a nice typeface to make up for it. I’d found one on Veer a while ago called Rambler. It costs $50. Boooo. I can’t bring myself to pay for a typeface. Not when there are sites like 1001FreeFonts.com. I’d looked all over the site and couldn’t find anything like so I decided to put that task to the side and pick up the font finding later.

Well later came when I found out about DaFont.com
from Miss Sweet Tea at WeddingBee. She used the Honey Script for her Save the Date Cards. It looked so

familiar to me and I finally realized it’s because it looks so similar to Rambler. Here it is in all its glory. The best part is it’s a free font and it’s available for Mac.

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Technorati Tags: Free, invitation, typeface

I Got My Dress

August 9, 2008 by Mrs. 12k | Filed in: The Bride's Stuff

I didn’t go the traditional route to find my dress. Rather than visit a bunch of bridal boutiques, I started my search online. I used to work in a bridal salon, so I kind of had an idea of what I wanted. Plus, since I’m a shortie (only 5′1″) I knew I couldn’t get a huge, poofy cinderella gown. It would be way too overwhelming.

I did visit one bridal salon. The first time it was during a Monique L’huillier trunk show and the second time it was during their annual sample sale. Two very good reasons, in my opinion. Both visits were fruitless, but I wasn’t discouraged.

I scoured different used wedding dress sites online including oncewed.com, preownedweddingdresses.com, partypop.com, eBay, craigslist, and the Weddingbee Classifieds. I ended up finding my dress on Oncewed and I couldn’t be happier.

I was a little hesitant about getting a used dress, because it’s just that – used. But my persistence paid off and I got lucky. My dress was a once-tried-on sample, sold to me by the bride who’d planned on wearing it. The transaction was smooth and my dress arrived in just a few days.

The dress fits almost perfectly, is in excellent condition and I got a really, really good deal on it. I couldn’t be happier.

I know you’re probably wondering where my pictures are or what my dress looks like. I’ll just say this – the dress can be found on the designer Michelle Roth’s website. Can you guess which one it is?

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Technorati Tags: Bride, Dress

Overstocked and Ivory Bridesmaids Dresses

August 6, 2008 by Mrs. 12k | Filed in: Wedding Party

Thanks to Ten Thousand Only, I was inspired to check out Overstock.com for some attractively priced bridesmaids dresses. I found a lot that I like, but it was difficult because I’m still semi-undecided on a color.

Fast forward >>>>>>>>>>

I just realized that I think I would like it if my bridesmaids wore ivory dresses. No sooner than I had this epiphany did I come across this wedding at The Bride’s Cafe. I love so much about the wedding, but especially the bridesmaids dresses.

So once again, I’m posing the question to you, loyal readers: Do you know who makes these dresses?

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Technorati Tags: Bridesmaids, Dresses

Bridesmaids Invitations are On Their Way

August 6, 2008 by Mrs. 12k | Filed in: Behind the Scenes, DIY

I’ve got my first DIY project under my belt! I did a simple little invite to my bridesmaids, asking them to be the attendants in my wedding.

I made a stop at Michael’s and picked up

4 sheets of red cardstock on sale for $0.25 each = $1.00
3 sheets of ivory cardstock on sale for $0.29 each = $0.87
3 sheets of chocolate cardstock on sale for $0.15 each = $0.45
Pack of brown envelopes, of which I have plenty left, for $5.99
Roll of green ribbon, which I didn’t end up using, for $1.50
Pack of square-shaped brads, of which I have plenty left, for $2.99

I bought other unrelated items during this shopping trip, but I also used a 20% off coupon.

I also purchased a picture of the Detroit skyline on istockphoto.com which was a guilty splurge at $10.00.

So armed with all my supplies and my wannabe creativity, this is what I created with my laptop, inkjet printer and crossed fingers. Click the images to enlarge.

Disclaimer: Never mind the scratched out image on the front. The first “page” of each invite is a picture of me and that particular bridesmaid together. Some pictures weren’t so flattering but held special memories for us so I included them anyway.