Dress Shopping, my take, Part 1

Unlike other brides-to-be out there, I've been putting off shopping for my dress. Everyone kept asking me if I have found my dress yet, and I had to reply "no".

Well, that is no longer, folks. I have found my dress!

After chatting with a former co-worker who is getting married eight days after me, she gave me some pointers from her shopping experience. She scheduled a couple of appointments at various bridal salons in the San Jose area, and had a pretty good time. However, her one caveat was that she didn't think she'd be able to get out of the salon without spending at least four figures -- something I feared.

By nature, I'm a pretty frugal person. I think I learned that from my dad. I don't like spending my own money, however, I have an easier time spending someone else's money. For the wedding, I'm paying for a lot of things on my own, so I knew that I would have to budget a reasonable amount for my wedding dress. I'm not coming from a place where my parents have set aside $10,000 for my dream dress. I'm okay with that. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that I was going to wear something with five digits. That's just not how I roll.

So the thought of "having" to spend at least $1,000 on a wedding gown was freaking me out. My co-worker also mentioned that for we who are getting married next July, considering that it takes about four to six months to create, should order our dresses by October. Good to know.

With these two points in mind, I researched a couple of local bridal salons. I didn't really want to drive about forty-five minutes out of my way to the same salons as my co-workers. (Enter frugality). Instead I decided to find something closer. I had heard about one location, J'aime Bridal in Pleasanton. I made an appointment for a bridal consultation. I had also driven past another bridal salon, Kay's Bridal, in Castro Valley, and booked a second appointment that day. I figured that these were in close enough proximity to me, so why not?

I went dress shopping this past Thursday. I went out with no intention of either finding or buying a dress. I thought that it was going to be a long, hard journey to finding "the" dress. I thought that it would be foolish to "settle". I had seen other brides-to-be going from salon to salon, trying on multiple dresses, and still not finding the one. I thought that would be me.

I discovered otherwise on Thursday....

Returning to regular blogging soon!

Sorry that I have been MIA lately! I have been consumed by my "real world" job and will get back to regular blogging next week. Until then, be sure to check out the links to the right!

Tablescapes a la Martha!

Always something beautiful from Martha Stewart. The first two are from the "Easy Entertaining" section.

Martha Stewart Weddings

 

Martha Stewart Weddings 

 

Summer Wedding Bright 

 

Bright Summer Weddings

I can't help but focus in on Martha Stewart's lovely creations.

Foto Friday: Liana Lehman Photography

Congratulations to Liana Lehman on her recent engagement! I recently discovered Liana through the lovely Jasmine Star's blog. She is an Atlanta-based wedding and portrait photographer. Liana Lehman is a true entrepreneur and has accomplished so much at age 27! She was recently featured on F-Stop Beyond podcast as July is Creative Entrepreneurs Month. Liana is not only a photographer, but also believes in helping others achieve the impossible as featured on BananasEDU, her website where she offers a Complete Business Makeover, the Photo Biz Boot Camp, and DVDs and other tools, helping others succeed. Read the BananasEDU blog here for more information.

All photos from Liana Lehman.

Invitation finds on Flickr

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been away on business in Denver for my real job -- attending a statistics conference. I'm no statistician, but I do work on statistics books.

While hanging out in my hotel room and enjoying the free wi-fi, I came upon some great finds on Flickr. It's such an awesome photo community and some etsy artists as well as freelance invitation designers showcase their work on Flickr.

User UglyKitty has some lovely designs which are hand Gocco'ed. Etsy Store here.

 

Hiu and Kent  

  

Becca and Matt  

So does MewPaperArts and Etsy Store here.

 

Chocolate Damask  

  

Invitation  

  

Wild Ginger  

  

Mandala

Foto Friday: Jessica Claire

I first learned about Jessica Claire on one of my favorite wedding websites - WeddingBee. I was immediately drawn to her photos. The color, the vibrancy, the life that jumps off the screen. Just wonderful. The ever-so amazing Jessica Claire is not just a photographer. She's also an entrepreneur and creator of a beloved bag for photographers - the Shootsac. She's also revolutionized the use of her blogsite - a blog and a website: www.jessicaclaire.net. She not only has some amazing images, she also lets her personality shine through in her posts and in her photos. You can really see that she genuinely cares for her clients, which I feel is so important for great rapport. I'm a regular reader of her blog and an admirer of her images.

All photos from Jessica Claire:

 

  

 

All these photos are so beautiful! Check out Jessica's latest wedding here.

In case you're wondering here's Jessica's creation - the Shootsac!